Picture the scene: 18th century courthouse in London.
Serious looking men in long black gowns and white neck-tight collars rushing busily with files and cases, with one or more anxious looking persons in tow.
They get into a courtyard, climb a couple of steps and jostle their way into a room full of lined benches and desks – an approximate variation of a Dickensian classroom.
The older looking black robed men sit in the front row. Behind them the others.
Everybody else finds seats wherever they can.
The curious bystander cannot help noticing the quirky black robe with a long vertical sash which hangs in front and which ties in at the shoulder with a pouch looking contraption dangling at the back – on enquiry he is told various stories about how this add-on originated in olden days. The rest of the black men’s dress has nothing unusual about it : a white horsehair wig, stiff collars reminiscent of a priest’s outfit with the exception of the two protruding bands below the neck. Nothing would make these men stand out in the crowd, other than their uniform look and self assured demeanour.
Suddenly a sharp call to attention – and everybody gets up.
Enters a robed figure looking like the ones sitting in the first rows. He bows to the attendance – the men in black bow back. He then takes his seat at the head of the room – facing the attendance.
A man calls out 2 names and a man in black gets up and says :” May it please Your Lordship …. “
Fast forward 3 centuries later.
We are in 2020 in the Independent Republic of Mauritius (formerly British colony – and French before that).
We are in a courthouse in Port-Louis.
With a few very minor differences , like the dispensation of the horsehair wig in torrid tropical temperatures, the exact same scene takes place.
One could be forgiven for thinking that everything has frozen in time – except that these men (and now women too) in black gowns, look totally out of place in their attires more fit for a costume dress party than serious daily professional activity.
These visual images of the uncanny similarity between courtroom activities of over 3 centuries ago and our present day courtroom, serves to remind us of how loath to change and steeped in conservatism, the dispensation of justice is.
As much as lawyers and judges were initially intended to blend into the community in which they professed, they have now become unmissable scarecrows in a modern world where their attire has no place.
The awe inspiring court dress of the barrister , attorney and Judge even in Mauritius, does not encourage the perception of the accessibility of justice – worse still of its purveyors and dispensers ; understand here lawyers and judges.
Modern trends in the United Kingdom , from where our court dress court originated, have been to “dress down” and in many cases e.g in commercial and family matters, not to have any differentiating attire at all. When appearing before our highest court of appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, lawyers and Judges are similarly dressed in normal office day wear – not disguised in heavy cumbersome robes which serve no real purpose to proceedings.
The bottom line is that we should start demystifying the law – make it lean and nimble for all to understand and show our ability to move with our times in the way we practise it.
After all, when we consider that the bands worn in court, consisting of two rectangles which are said to represent the tablets of Moses in the Old Testament, one has trouble keeping a straight face when considering how relevant this symbolism is to most Mauritian judges and barristers !
Lawyers and judges would benefit considerably more from being seen as normal people , close to the daily realities of the common man , and more importantly for what they really are – only humans.
