Judges could get a dressing down if court laws are reformed

JUDGES could be set to expose their curly locks — or balding heads — under plans to review antiquated laws governing how they dress in court.

The 531-year-old Courts Act of 1476, which decrees that judges must wear a wig and gown while the courts are sitting, is to be reconsidered in the review which will be started by the Law Reform Commission (LFC) later today.

Whether judges would choose to cast off centuries of tradition and go bare-headed to the bench will be a matter for debate, however, as the LFC is inviting them, as well as the rest of the legal profession and the public at large to submit their views before a final recommendation is made to Government.

The medieval act, which actually refers to gowns and wigs as “habits and coifs”, has already fallen behind the times in practical terms as it also states that lords must wear their robes in Parliament — a throwback to pre-Dáil days.

But the spirit of the law has also taken a battering in recent years as more and more barristers, as well as judges hearing juvenile cases, choose to go wigless in an effort to make the courtroom a less intimidating arena for the public.

The review is part of a wider attempt to streamline legislation relating to the courts which are currently governed by almost 80 separate pieces of legislation, 20 of which pre-date the foundation of the State in 1922.

Some of the key issues the LFC plans to review include the sometimes confusing “in camera” rule, which allows some cases to be heard in private without any public attendance and only reported without the use of names or other identifying details.

The review will ask whether it should remain mandatory that litigants use their real names in sensitive cases, the example cited being that of the late Bridget McCole who was refused permission to use an assumed name in her battle with the Blood Transfusion Service Board in the 1990s.

Another matter to be reviewed is the financial ceiling that apply in the district and circuit courts which prevent many modest civil claims from being heard in the lower courts because the potential value of any compensation awarded would breach current limits which were set in 1991.

The appeals system will also be examined with a view to the setting up of a permanent Court of Appeal which would hear the majority of appeals in both civil and criminal cases and so free up the Supreme Court to deal with more significant appeals.

All the legislation and key features to be reviewed have been collected in a consultation paper which is to be launched by Justice Minister Brian Lenihan this evening.