‘Judges sitting at the Central Family Court will wear robes during proceedings from this week (15 April 2024), in a pilot intended to explore the impact of increased formality in family courts.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th April 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Judges could be handed wider powers to take the initiative over contempt of court in draft rules proposed by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC).’
Litigation Futures, 11th March 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘A woman and her daughter charged in connection with what is thought to be Britain’s first all-female alleged terror plot were told to lift their veils in court by a magistrate who asked to see their eyes.’
Daily Telegraph, 11th May 2017
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Women who choose to wear religious veils in court must be shown respect, the country’s most senior judge has said.’
The Independent, 17th April 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Judges must show respect to women who choose to keep their faces covered due to their religious beliefs, the UK’s most senior judge has said.’
The Guardian, 17th April 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A Muslim woman who wore a full-face veil in court during her trial has admitted witness intimidation.’
The Guardian, 30th January 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The most senior judge in England and Wales says a public consultation will open on the ‘divisive’ subject soon.”
Daily Telegraph, 5th November 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Video-call technology such as Skype and FaceTime could be used to allow criminal defendants to take part in court hearings from home, the most senior judge in England and Wales has said. In his first press conference, the new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, said the use of such applications could reduce the cost of hearings held in the run up to a trial.”
The Independent, 5th November 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The former justice secretary Ken Clarke has rekindled the debate about wearing veils in court by claiming that a proper trial is impossible if a defendant is ‘in a kind of bag’.”
The Guardian, 3rd November 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“This week the Conservative Party Conference is likely to generate human rights headlines. Meanwhile, previous controversies still bubble away. Chris Grayling, taking a break from legal aid cuts, offered his opinion on the Europe debate. Meanwhile, others considered the role of transparency, demeanour, religious freedom and niqabs in the courts, and, with the proposed smoking ban in prisons, smokers may have found another reason not to break the law.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 29th September 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“In 1894 Edward Marshall Hall KC defended the Austrian-born prostitute Marie Hermann, charged with the murder of a client whose body she hid in a trunk. The jury acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter after what has become his most famous jury speech ending with, ‘Look at her, gentlemen of the jury, look at her. God never gave her a chance, won’t you?’ The personalities may have changed and the language less flowery but the basic principle of a jury trial is the same – we judge our peers on the evidence and that is the evidence presented in court. This includes our assessment of other human beings, not just what they say but how they say it.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 25th September 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“Lawyers appearing at the UK’s highest court will no longer have to wear traditional dress, it was announced today.”
The Independent, 21st November 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The English judiciary has long been regarded as a bastion of conservative mores and sartorial continuity. So when, 10 months ago, former designer of the year Betty Jackson ripped up 300 years of tradition by introducing a new robe for some of England’s most trenchant legal minds, her chutzpah raised eyebrows far beyond the High Court.”
The Independent, 27th March 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The Chairman of the Bar has today issued guidance on court dress regarding the Practice Direction issued by the Lord Chief Justice dated 31 July 2008.”
The Bar Council, 20th November 2008
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
“Judges in civil and family cases in England and Wales have stopped wearing wigs as part of a new dress code.”
BBC News, 1st October 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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