BNP jibe at lawyer who opposed veiled judges
By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor
Last Updated: 6:16am BST 06/06/2007
A barrister who argued that Muslim judges in Britain should never wear the veil in court has been accused by a fellow barrister of deploying the arguments of the British National Party.
Barbara Hewson was commenting on guidance issued to judges earlier this year by the Judicial Studies Board.
The advice did not rule out the possibility that women judges, magistrates or tribunal members might wear the niqab, or veil, in court.
Instead, it asked rhetorically: "Is the constituency which is served by the courts entitled to see the person dispensing justice?"
Miss Hewson, writing in the Bar Council's magazine Counsel, said it was worrying that the board's advice contemplated the possibility of veiled judges.
Describing the guidance as "astonishing and subversive", she said: "The United Kingdom is not a sharia state."
Responding in the magazine, Fatim Kurji wrote: "As for veiled judges and the suggestion that the 'United Kingdom is not a sharia state', this is what I call 'the BNP argument'.
It implies a woman who wears a niqab comes at the erosion of British values. Such an astonishingly offensive remark undermines the long-enduring libertarian values."
Miss Kurji said she was no fan of niqab but even less so of a legal system "that restricts access to justice on the basis of religious expression".
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
6 comments:
Must admit I never thought we would even remotely consider allowing a Judge to wear a Veil. What a frightening and disorientating experience that would be for any person in the dock.
A truly idiotic idea, and it's appalling to have even considered it.
A judge takes responsibility for the smooth running of a case, and ultimately bares the task of assigning sentence. Furthermore, court dress, and even the design of the courts themselves are designed to show the hierarchy in the room. How can such a thing exist when the most important person in the room is hiding behind a mask? Thankfully, we're only dealing with a hypothetical at the moment.
A silly hypothetical. And a silly comment.
You're right, Chris. It is indeed silly to have an opinion that doesn't conform to yours, and to dare to express it. Many apologies.
At the risk of sounding a bit silly, may I just say on this subject "Wooodunnnt Pffffwwwurttt widididididnittttitt weeee! woop[s kwokkkk:::; ZzzZzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppp!"
who cares as long as they do the job properly?
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