DRESS RULES OBSERVED

Evening Star, Issue 19788, 11 February 1928, Page 11

DRESS RULES OBSERVED

BV-I.AW COURT OFFICIALS. Quito a number of astonishing rules have to ho observed by the Law Courts officials in the matter of dress. _ No King’s Counsel or junior barrister ever” appears in court without a wig, on which are exactly thirty curls. A K.C. wears a silk gown with a square yoke at tho hack, but a junior has to 'be content with a cotton one with a curved yoke. When conducting a ease in court, solicitors simply wear a gown, dispensing with the wig. The judges of the High Court wear black robes trimmed with ermine, hut on twenty-six days in each year the judges of the King’s Bench wear , scarlet robes. It is interesting to note that eighteen of those days are Church festivals, signifying the close relationship of the Church and State in all public matters. On the other eight days, seven are royal anniversaries, including the birthdays of tho King, Queen, and tho Prince of Wales, tho last ono being Lord Mayor’ Day. During the summer the Judge’s ermine is replaced by slate-colored silk, and the robes arc made of a lighter material. It is only on State occasions that the judge wears a fullbnttoinod wig. On ordinary occasions bis wig is the same as that worn by a barrister, with this difference it has ono vortical curl just above tho tail of the wig instead of three rows going all the way round. When tfie judges deal with criminal matters, cither at the Old Bailey or in the Appeal Court, they wear their scarlet robes, and in addition the Lords Chief Justice wears a white bow on his shoulder. The Recorder in charging the Grand Jury at the Central Criminal Court wears white kid gloves, while in police courts aldermen, who are Justices of the Peace, wear their aldormanic robes when administering justice; The jailer and other officers of the court at Bow Street and elsewhere have plain dark uniforms, but at the Mansion House and the Guidhall Courts these uniforms are trimmed with scarlet, an extravagance which might be expected in the wealthy City of London.