Consultation courts opinion on legal attire

A government consultation has been launched to allow people to air their views on what judges and lawyers should wear in court.

Figures from a recent survey showed that half of the people questioned felt some change is needed. Just over two thirds felt that judges should wear wigs in criminal hearings, while 31% thought they should wear wigs in civil cases.

The government's call for opinions on the relevance and importance of the traditional attire worn in courts in England and Wales is part of a wider consultation programme on reforming the judicial system. It will also ask for views on the future of Queen's Counsel (QCs) and a Judicial Appointments Commission.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, said he hoped the consultation exercise would encourage as high a response rate from members of the public as from legal professionals.

"I want to establish the extent to which court working dress impacts on public confidence, on court users and on the wider public esteem in which our courts are held, either positively or otherwise," he said.

The attire worn in court dates back to the 1700s and is generally considered to confer authority on the judiciary, legal represenatives and other court staff.

Baroness Scotland, Minister responsible for judicial matters in the Lord Chancellor's Department, said: "Society has moved apace in the decade since the last consultation exercise was undertaken in 1992 and we believe it is necessary for a fresh, balanced view to be taken on how comfortable non-professional court users are in a modern civil or criminal court environment."

Figures from a public opinion survey, Public Perceptions of Working Court Dress in England and Wales conducted by ORC International, showed that 50% of respondents felt some change is needed.

The survey involved in-street interviews throughout England and

Wales during October 2002 with 1,571 members of the general public

who had not used the courts in England and Wales, and 506 who had.

(GMcG/SP)