New Judicial Civil Robe
12 May 2008
Last July the Lord Chief Justice announced reforms to simplify judicial court working dress in England and Wales. The changes, which include the introduction of a new civil gown, are due to come into effect on 1 October 2008. Fashion designer, Betty Jackson CBE, very generously worked on a pro-bono basis as the design consultant for the new gown.
Criminal Jurisdiction
From 1 October High Court judges will wear a single set of red robes for criminal proceedings throughout the year, rather than different sets of robes for summer and winter. Apart from this there will be no change to court dress worn by judges when sitting in criminal proceedings.
Civil and Family Jurisdiction – The New Civil Robe.
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; the new civil robe will be worn.
Circuit Judges sitting as deputy High Court judges will wear the new civil gown. The remainder of the Circuit Bench, in accordance with their current wish, will continue to wear the same gown and tippet less the wig, wing collar and bands.
In civil and family hearings in open court, all other judges will wear the new civil gown.
The design favoured by a judicial working group incorporates coloured bands to identify seniority. The chosen colours are:
* Heads of Division and Appeal Court judges - gold
* High Court judges - red
* Circuit Judges (sitting as deputy High Court judges) - lilac
* District Judges - blue
* Masters and Registrars – (yet to be decided)
Financial Implications
These changes will be reflected in the dress allowances made to judges and substantial savings will result. Whilst the one-off cost of supplying the new civil robe to judges is estimated at about £450,000 it is anticipated that annual savings in the region of £200,000 will thereafter be made.
Examples:
Male Judges' Robes
Female Judges' Robes
Downloadable high resolution images:
Male Judges' Robe
Image 1 (JPEG 1.75mb) | Image 2 (JPEG 1.55mb)
Female Judge's Robe
Image 1 (JPEG 1.85mb) | Image 2 (JPEG 1.59mb)