Britain’s lawyers and judges are to break with centuries-old tradition and cease wearing white horse-hair wigs in non-criminal cases, the head of the country’s judiciary announced on Thursday.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, said new dress rules would mean the wigs, which British legal professionals have worn since the 17th century, would not be needed in civil or family court cases.
The wigs will still be worn in criminal courts.
Now, if we can inspire the Brits – and our own crowd of legal beagles – to drag their butts up to the 21st Century, something more than cosmetic updates might be achieved.
meh. another tradition pointlessly jettisoned. court proceedings are supposed to be solemn, and I would think that anachronistic attire like robes and wigs would help with that.
I don’ know where you dredged up the pic of Persis Khambatta, but I would think someone who didn’t die tragically might been a choice in better taste…
Someone’s worrying about taste at DU on a Saturday? Poisonally, I don’t think the photo is any less beautiful than when she was alive.
Better taste is commenting on some of mediocrities passing for judges and lawyers…who inflict tragedy upon the lives of ordinary people every day instead of the justice they’re charged with.
Wigs and suits w/ ties are stupid antiquated fashions.
Wigs were probably used because the barristers of yester-millenium had greasy funky hair because shampoo hadn’t been invented, and bathing was considered unsafe.
The story behind ties is they prevented spilled food/drink from soiling shirts. Well, we now have paper napkins, and who actually uses their tie to clean up spills? Heck, some ties are so expensive these days that it’s better to get the shirt dirty. Also, I firmly believe neckties cut off blood circulation to the brain. You can see the results in the way executives run corporations, rip off consumers and employees, and generally wreak havoc on the environment.
Last, but not least, the suit coat. What, are buildings so cold that we need to wear a coat all day? What if you live in an arid region? People in arid regions are generally crazy, probably due to heat cooking their brains. So, you’re wearing a coat and necktie, reducing oxygen levels in the brain, holding in the heat, and cooking the brain as well.
It’s been time to evolve for years… let’s get started!
Well, I mean, what is all that bullshit about but tradition + conformity. The Brits have an righteous respect for tradition but unfortunately they have some traditions that have long since outlived any usefulness they may’ve once had and this is a fine example of a tradition that’s gone way past it’s sell-by date. And hanging on to tradition for the sake of tradition also has the effect of impeding progressive reforms – which, Jeebus knows, the legal systems in Old Blighty and the Colonies could surely stand a stiff dose of…
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#3 – god
“…taste at DU on a Saturday?” OK, you’ve got a point there, I grant you.
“Better taste is commenting on some of mediocrities passing for judges and lawyers…who inflict tragedy upon the lives of ordinary people every day instead of the justice they’re charged with.”
You’re being too kind, Your Worship. The ranks of both of those professions you mention include no small number of the most despicable, reprehensible excuses for human beings it’s been my misfortune to ever encounter.
Don’t get me started on those vicious bastards, I warn you…
Did no one else think of that Star Trek movie?
#6, that would be Persis Khambatta. She died almost broke in India at the age of 46 from a heart attack.
I want to know why they’re making the distinction between criminal and civil cases in wearing vs. not wearing the wigs. Do they look more authoritarian, more frightening, in criminal cases? If so, why?
I’ve always wanted to know if a defendant could wear a white powdered wig.
RBG