New court dress comes into force today

WED 01/10/2008 - Today marks the introduction of the wearing of a new robe in civil and family law cases.

Fashion designer, Betty Jackson CBE, worked on a pro-bono basis as the design consultant for the new gown.

In the Civil and Family jurisdiction, the Court of Appeal and High Court judges will no longer wear wigs, wing collars and bands when sitting in open court in civil and family proceedings, instead the new civil robe will be worn.

The design favoured by a judicial working group incorporates coloured bands to identify seniority.

The new court working dress of advocates also comes into force today. The Bar Council's guidance published in July stipulates that in the Family Courts business suits will be worn except in the course of contested petitions for divorce or annulment of marriages during which counsel will wear court dress, that is to say wigs and gowns.

For more information and pictures of the new judges robes click here.