ATTIRE: report released after freedom of information request


The long-running row over sartorial inequality between barristers and solicitor-advocates might end this summer after Whitehall was forced to release a report into court dress.



Following a freedom of information application by solicitor-advocate Jason Hadden of BPP law school, the Ministry of Justice last week issued the results of a consultation about whether judges, advocates and court staff should retain their current court dress. The report dates back to January 2004. The original consultation was in May 2003 but has not been heard of since.



Mr Hadden said he made the application because of the government's 'complete inaction' over the issue of solicitor-advocates and barristers having the same rights of audience but not the same dress code.



'This is something that can be resolved in a flick of a pen by the Lord Chief Justice,' he said. Why the government sat on the report for so long is unknown, but it could be because the consultation response was 'not what they wanted'.



The results showed most people questioned wanted parity between the bar and solicitor-advocates, but a fair number wanted to keep the difference. Professional users of courts were more likely to want to retain more formal court dress, while the public was divided.



The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, is known to favour some modernisation of court dress and he will, a spokesman said, make an announcement 'once things are finalised'. Parity of court dress 'will form part of the announcement'.



Several options for future court dress were offered to consultees, but the new dress options for barristers and solicitor-advocates were the same, and none of them included wigs.



Rupert White