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Court dress comprises two forms of dress: dress prescribed for Royal courts; and dress prescribed for courts of law.
This article deals primarily with dress worn in the courts of law of England and Wales and elsewhere in the English-speaking world.
Court dress in the United Kingdom
Where court dress is worn
Court dress may be worn at hearings in open court in all courts of the Supreme Court of Judicature and in county courts. However, court dress is usually dispensed with where it may intimidate children, e.g. in the Family Division and at the trials of minors.
Court dress is not worn at hearings in chambers and in the magistrates' courts. Court dress is almost invariable in any public hearing in the Crown Court but otherwise is subject to the decision of the judge or local practice.
See courts of England and Wales.
Advocates
English advocates (whether barristers or solicitors) who appear before a judge who is robed must themselves be robed.
Junior barristers
Junior barristers wear an open-fronted black stuff gown with open sleeves and a gathered yoke, over a black or dark suit. (Hence the term stuffgownsman for juniors.) A white stiff wing collar is worn with bands (two strips of linen about 5" by 1" hanging down the front of the neck). In addition barristers wear a short horsehair wig with curls at the side and ties down the back.
Traditionally, a black waistcoat and pinstripe trousers are worn.
Queen's Counsel
Barristers who have been appointed Queen's Counsels, or QCs, wear instead a silk gown with a flap collar and long closed sleeves (the arm opening is half-way up the sleeve). They also wear a court coat, similar to a black morning coat, instead of an ordinary suit jacket.
On ceremonial occasions, and when appearing before the bar of the House of Lords (nowadays this usually only happens when the decision of the House is given), QCs wear ceremonial dress (see below).
Solicitors
Solicitors wear the same collar and bands as barristers, but wear a stuff gown of the same shape as QCs, with no wig.Judges
Generally judges in the Family and Chancery divisions of the courts wear the same black silk gown as QCs, as do judges in the Court of Appeal. All judges wear a short wig when working in court, reserving the long wig for ceremonial occasions.
Judges in the highest court, the House of Lords, do not wear court dress at all (although advocates appearing before them do), instead suits are worn. On occasions on which law lords are present as members of the House of Lords in a legislative capacity they are attired as other members.
It is in intermediate courts that try cases at first instance (with a jury in criminal cases) that court dress is the most complicated.
High Court judges
When dealing with first-instance criminal business in the winter, a High Court judge of the Queen's Bench division wears a scarlet robe with fur facings, a black scarf and girdle (waistband) and a scarlet casting-hood or tippet. When dealing with criminal business in the summer, the judge wears a similar scarlet robe, but with silk rather than fur facings.When he tries civil cases, he wears in winter a black robe faced with fur, a black scarf and girdle and a scarlet tippet; in summer, a violet robe faced with silk, with the black scarf and girdle and scarlet tippet.
Circuit judges
A circuit judge (in the County courts or the Crown court) wears a violet robe with lilac facings. As well as a girdle, the judge wears a tippet (sash) over the left shoulder - lilac when dealing with civil business and red when dealing with crime. Ordinary day dress is worn beneath the robe.Special occasions
On Red Letter Days (which include the Sovereign's birthday and certain saints' days) all judges wear the scarlet robe for the appropriate season.
On special ceremonial occasions (such as the Opening of the Legal Year) judges and QCs wear long wigs, black breeches and silk stockings, and wear lace jabots instead of bands. High court judges in addition have a scarlet and fur mantle, which is worn with his gold chain of office in the case of the Lord Chief Justice. The Lord Chancellor and judges of the Court of Appeal have black silk and gold lace gowns.
Reform
A court dress consultation was conducted in 2003, but the results have never been published and it is widely seen has having been "kicked into the long grass" by the current Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton. It had been suggested that reforms might include the abolition of wigs in civil courts (but retaining them in criminal courts), and making the dress of barristers and solicitor-advocates indistinguishable.
A previous review in 1992 resulted in little change of substance.
Scotland
Scottish court dress is very similar to English court dress, but there are notable differences. For example, Scottish advocates wear morning coats instead of lounge suits under their gowns, and wear white bow ties instead of bands. QCs and judges wear long scarf-like ties instead of bands.
Scottish judicial robes are also different from English ones.
Commonwealth
Court dress in many jurisdictions in Commonwealth realms such as Australia and the Caribbean is identical to English court dress. Many African countries that used to be British colonies similarly continue to wear the dress, white wigs and all.
In Canada court dress is identical, except that wigs are not worn. Bar jackets are worn under the gown, though QC's and Judges have more elaborate cuffs than other lawyers. In some lower level courts of Queen's Bench it has been acceptable for lawyers to be dressed in proper business attire. Business attire is suitable for the lower provincial and territorial courts. There is no distinction between solicitors and barristers; all lawyers are formally qualified as both.
In New Zealand court dress was simplified in 1996. Judges wear black gowns in the District Court, High Court and Court of Appeal, while counsel only wear black gowns in the latter two courts. Wigs and bar jackets (for counsel) are only worn on ceremonial occasions. No gowns are worn by the Judges of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, on a false analogy with the Law Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
In Victoria, Australia, court dress for lawyers is similar to England, save that:
1. there is no distinction between solicitors and barristers 2. all lawyers wear bar jackets under their gowns 3. jabots and bands are interchangeable.
Senior Counsel's silk gowns have a rosette on the upper back.
No court dress is required in the Magistrates Court of Victoria. In the higher courts, court dress is generally only required for trials, not for mentions or similar procedural hearings.
Hong Kong
Court dress in Hong Kong is practically the same as court dress in England and Wales. Under the auspices of the one country, two systems arrangement after 1997, when sovereignty of the former British crown colony was transferred to the People's Republic of China as a special administrative region, the territory has continued to be a common law jurisdiction, and English legal traditions have preserved.
United States
Formal court dress is a relative rarity in the USA. Generally, judges of both state and federal courts are free to select their own courtroom attire. The most common choice is a plain black gown which covers the torso and legs, with sleeves. Female judges will sometimes add to the gown a plain white collar similar to that used in academic dress. Very occasionally, a judge will wear another color, such as blue or red.
In 1994, Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist added four gold bars to each sleeve of his gown, but the change in his attire (he had been Chief Justice since 1986) was his own innovation and was inspired by a production of the operetta Iolanthe, rather than any historical precedent. His successor, John Roberts, has opted for the customary plain black gown.
Many state supreme court justices wear unique styles of robes, the most notable being the Maryland Court of Appeals, where all judges wear red, and British-style tab collars.
Some judges eschew special dress entirely and preside over their courts in normal business wear.
"Professional" attire (e.g. sharply fitted cleaned and pressed business suits, or the traditional trousers, jacket, tie, and shined leather shoes for men or medium-length skirt, conservative blouse, and fashionable high-heeled shoes for women) is the norm for attorneys appearing in court, although with the gradual increase in the number of women admitted to the bar in the past half-century the term has been of necessity subject to some re-definition. For example, some judges forbade female attorneys to wear trousers when appearing in court; but this practice is falling into disuse.
The most significant exception to the practice of non-ceremonial court dress is the United States Solicitor General. When the Solicitor General (or one of his assistants) argues a case before the Supreme Court of the United States, he/she wears morning dress, with striped trousers, grey ascot, waistcoat, and a cutaway morning coat, making him/her a very distinctive sight in the courtroom.
External links
"Court dress"