Bar Council Consults on Proposed Wig Reforms
26 July 2007
Following the Lord Chief Justice’s press release on July 12 outlining changes to what judges will wear in court, the Bar Council has issued a consultation paper on court dress in civil and family cases. The consultation has been sent to members of the Bar, the Law Society, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, consumer groups and others to gauge a cross-section of views.
The consultation, following a similar model to that used in a 2001 survey, when the Bar was last consulted (published in 2003), will look at issues including the type of court dress which is appropriate today, what might be kept or modified, and the cost implications should the dress code change, particularly for young and publicly funded barristers.
In the 2001 consultation, coordinated by Christopher Frazer under the instruction of then Chairman of the Bar, Roy Amlot QC, a majority of barristers polled favoured the retention of wigs in all types of civil case about which they were questioned. Just under 50% wanted to keep them in most types of family case, where the liberty of one of the parties was not in question. 83.7% of the Bar favoured wigs in criminal cases. 3,751 barristers replied to the survey.
Bar Chairman Geoffrey Vos QC said:
“It is quite clear that there are strong views on both sides about the retention of wigs and gowns. The majority view in 2001 was that wigs should be retained in civil cases, but not in family cases, unless someone’s liberty was at stake. It will be interesting to see if this is still the case in light of the Lord Chief Justice’s pronouncement.
“This is an important issue in terms of the way in which the public views the profession now and in the future. The Bar is not necessarily reluctant to change, but we are keen to initiate a full and proper debate before any changes are made.”
Click here to access the Court Dress questionnaire.
