Dressing for court has been tricky as the mercury has risen but listings in the Royal Courts of Justice is doing its bit.

It is not all that unusual to see a case listed with a note saying it is unrobed. A reason is never usually given so it is nice to see that the warmer weather has been acknowledged with an ‘unrobed - due to current weather temperatures’ in the King’s Bench divison’s daily cause list this week.

One assumes it is an attempt to save barristers from carrying their black billowing robes and expensive horsehair wigs with them to court just to be told while they are on their feet that they may take them off. It is not a rare occurence for judge’s to give that allowance but Obiter has always wondered if those that choose to keep their robes on after such an instruction do so because they feel they have carried them all this way so they may as well. 

The lyrics to Nelly’s Hot in Herre [sic] spring to mind, though it must be emphasised that the court has not gone so far as to tell those attending to ‘take off all your clothes’. The unrobing is a start, however.

Obiter appreciated the grace. After all, it is the commute into your workplace that really pushes one’s body to show what it is made of when it comes to temperature regulation. Saying that, Obiter can think of countless courtrooms that prefer to be stifling hot in the middle of summer or freezing cold in winter. Balance or logic is but a distant aspiration. Hopefully the unrobing will help.

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