A prominent media barrister, a professor of international law and a public defender representing a vast swath of the state are among the new silks announced by the NSW Bar on Friday.

Twenty-six barristers were elevated to senior counsel out of 109 applicants. Only eight of the new silks are women, but that is still well above the overall levels in the senior ranks of the Bar, where only 16 per cent of senior barristers are women.