On 24 April the Judicial Studies Board (JSB) issued draft guidance on the wearing of veils in court. It is remarkably one-sided, displaying little sympathy with the common law tradition of orality. It spills much ink arguing that full-face veils (niqabs and burqas) should be treated as normative, whether worn by judges, witnesses or advocates in court.
Why special treatment should be permitted is not fully explained, beyond the mantra “there is room for diversity” and the argument that justice must be “representative of the whole community”.
