Of Wigs and Gowns: A Critique of the Abolition of Court Dress in the Inner House of the Court of Session
| Author | Samuel Morton |
| Pages | 1-7 |
1
Of Wigs and Gowns: A Critique of the Abolition of Court Dress in the Inner
House of the Court of Session
Introduction
In Practice Note No. 1 of 2014, which was issued on 16 April 2014 and took effect on 22
April 2014, the Lord President declared that Senators of the College of Justice sitting in the
Inner House of the Court of Session:
[W]ill, ordinarily, no longer wear wigs and judicial robes. Where this is the case the
court will not insist that counsel should appear with wig and gown or that solicitors
with rights of audience should appear with gowns.
1
It was the Lord President himself who first proposed this change, and [t]he 11 judges
sitting in the )nner (ouse endorsed the change.
2
The purpose of this piece is twofold: to
explain the relevancy of wigs and gowns in the modern Scottish legal system, and to
critique the way in which the decision to abolish wigs and gowns was undertaken.
Relevancy
Intense passions and identity
It is true that the issue of court dress is not of the same importance as the two main changes
facing Scots law at the time of writing: the abolition of corroboration (proposed by Lord
Carloway), and the reform of the civil court structure (proposed by Lord Gill). While it may
not hold the same weight in terms of the liberties of the subject, court dress is still a
contentious and important matter. That court dress provokes intense interest and passions
was demonstrated in England in 2003 when:
1
Brian Gill, ‘Sittings of the Inner House’ (Practice Note No. 1 of 2014, Court of Session 2014).
2
British Broadcasting Corporation, ‘Judges ditch wigs and gowns for Scottish civil appeals’
(BBC News, 17 April 2014) > accessed 20
May 2014.
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