Thanks to Drunkenblogger for alerting me to this decision which I missed earlier this evening. I am working from The Times legal section as I consider them more reliable than the BBC.
Senior judges who examined whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear the full facial covering, known as the niqab, said it should be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Muslim women should be permitted to wear the garment providing it did not interfere with the administration of justice, the Judicial Studies Board’s Equal Treatment Advisory Committee said.
The guidelines said: “Each situation should be considered individually in order to find the best solution in each case.”
“If a person’s face is almost fully covered, a judge may have to consider if any steps are required to ensure effective participation and a fair hearing - both for the woman wearing a niqab and for other parties in the proceedings.
When the question arose in February the Lord Chief Justice said that “ the preference is for full veils not to be worn in courts and tribunals.” Most Judges do not want the full veil worn in court.
Turn this emphasis round and today’s guidelines are not so gloomy as the press is reporting. Judges are independent and these are guidelines. What I said in February is still valid. As most Judges do not want the veil in their court they still have authority to require its removal. It is a matter of judicial decision whether or not a witness or lawyer can be seen, heard, understood and theconstitutional principle of judicial independence means that no minister can challenge or interfere with that decision. If a judge's decision is wrong only a higher court can correct it, not the executive.
They also have discretion to allow if it they think it necessary. The circumstances that spring to mind would be the testimony of a woman scarred with acid for not wearing the veil, who is now too traumatised both by the attack and her scars to remove it.
But on balance I preferred the emphasis of the interim guidelines.
Posted on 04/24/2007 3:42 PM by Esmerelda Weatherwax
.jpg)
%20(2).jpg)
.jpg)
