Wigs and Gowns and Stuff
^ TOPCourt Robes
Lawyers wear traditional court robes. Not in every hearing. For criminal cases in the lawyers do not wear robes. In the Crown Court they do. In civil cases whether in the High Court or County Court they will wear robes for trials, applications for committal (as to which see the application referred to later in this piece) and certain appeals. In other cases neither the judge nor the lawyers wear robes.
The robes differ depending on who the person is. Different judges wear different robes (so that the robe of a High Court Judge sitting in the Crown Court will be different from that of a Circuit Judge sitting in the Crown Court). The solicitor will wear a solicitor's gown. He will also wear court bands and a wing collar instead of an ordinary collar and tie. (That is if he is a man - a woman can wear bands without the wing collar). All barristers and QC's do the same. (If you want to see what court bands and a wing collar look like then click on the "contributors" button at the top right of the screen, and then on the page that takes you to click on "Michael J. Booth QC's profile" and you will see a photograph which shows you both the wing collar and bands and why I became a lawyer rather than a male model).
^ TOPA Barrister's attire
A barrister will wear a barrister's gown over his suit and a barrister's wig. That is a white wig made of horsehair, with curls of the side and a sort of small pigtail at the back. A QC will wear the same wig in court as any other barrister, but wears a special jacket and a different type of gown. Although now generally made of artificial silk, this gown was traditionally made of silk. Hence becoming a QC is known as "taking silk", and QCs are often called silks. (The difference is also referred to as Leading Counsel for a QC, and Junior Counsel for other barristers, or Leader or Junior). The junior barrister's gown, being of ordinary material is known as a "stuff" gown. In the old days junior barristers could also be referred to as stuffs, just as leaders were referred to as silks, but you do not hear junior barristers referred to as stuffs these days.
Next week this diary will talk about what it is like to actually become a QC and explain that, but it is important to remember that a QC or Leader might only be 40 or even in his late 30s, whereas a Junior could be any age. Most barristers remain junior barristers for all their working lives. Therefore if anyone ever refers to a "Junior" do not assume that this means someone very young.
^ TOPWigs
As you will have seen from my photograph I am not burdened with having any hair. (In modern day politically correct jargon I suppose I would be referred to as being "follically challenged"). What little hair I have I shave off. Personally I do not like wearing a wig since on a warm day - particularly if there is either no air-conditioning or it is not working - it makes your head hot and uncomfortable. You also have to be careful to check the wig. Many years ago as a young Junior I inadvertently spent a morning in court with a huge brightly coloured paper clip caught in one of the curls of the wig. The judge was too polite to say anything.
There was a well-known QC who had about as much hair as I do who actually wore a normal wig day-to-day. When he was in court he wore a barrister's wig on top of his other wig. I would have thought that would be ferociously uncomfortable. Other barristers speculated as to whether one day when he was getting changed after court he would accidentally take both wigs off. They also wondered whether there were some special term for a wig which went on top of another wig. (If there was no one ever found out the name for it).
^ TOPUniform appearance
Opinions differ as to whether wigs should be kept. Whilst personally I would prefer not to have to wear one, some form of court outfit is required for trials, to show the importance and solemnity of the occasion. There is always a lot to be said for sticking with an existing tradition unless there is a good reason for changing it. One thing the court outfit does is stop a trial turning into a fashion show. A bit like a school uniform, it makes everyone adopt the same type of dress. Hopefully when everyone looks a little bit the same the attention will be on what they are saying and not how they look.
^ TOPAnonymity
Another practical advantage of the wig is that you are not easily recognised when you come out of court. I once went to a particular town to do two cases. The first was a committal application. That is an application to commit (i.e. send) someone to prison for breaching a court order. A man had been ordered to stay away from his girlfriend because of domestic violence. The allegation was that he had broken that order by going to see her and harassing her. That was her evidence and he denied it. After that I was going to spend the rest of the day doing a case about a dispute between a landlord and his tenant.
When I arrived at court and parked outside the defendant to the committal application was standing outside the court with a large group of followers who looked a bit like "rent a mob". They were all looking at me and my car. Shortly afterwards I was in court presenting the case against him. I was able to show in cross-examination that the version of events he was putting forward could not be true. He was found guilty of breaching the order and sent to prison for several months. All his friends left while I carried on with the other case. I was not optimistic about the state my car would be in when I got outside.
It may be that despite my worries they were all perfectly harmless. (As experience in the courts frequently shows, mean looking people can be law-abiding and kind, and angelic and honest looking people can be both vicious and dishonest). It might be that having just seen their friend sent to prison for breaking a court order, they were not inclined to break the law. I suspect however that it never got as far as that. They simply could not recognise the man in court wearing a wig as the same person who had stepped out of the car.