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April 24, 2007

UK: Muslim Face Veils Allowed In Court

Part of the measure of whether a person is telling the truth can be found in their facial expressions. We reported on November 8 that an immigration hearing at Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, stopped because judge George Glossop objected to a legal executive, Shabnam Mughal, wearing a face veil or niqab, which obscured her face and also muffled her voice.

Judge Glossop consulted the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) about the issue, which was to be arbitrated by Mr Justice Hodge, the husband of leftist Margaret Hodge, former leader of Islington Council. Justice Hodge is president of the AIT. Hodge ruled that the lawyer can wear the item if he/she "has the agreement of his or her client and can be heard reasonably clearly by all parties to the proceedings, then the representative should be allowed to do so."

Now, it appears that the face-veil can be worn in criminal cases too, according to new official guidelines. The Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Advisory Committee ruled that whether veils were to allowed in court would be decided on a "case by case" basis. The ruling effectively supports the niqab, as long as it does not "interfere with justice".

The Daily Mail reports that if it is felt that a woman giving evidence needs to have her veil removed, then the "courtroom could even be cleared of anyone not directly involved in the case for her to proceed with her evidence". Most court cases happen in the public eye, and rightly so. Justice must be seen to be done. If a courtroom is cleared because of a woman's religious vanity, then a basic principle of British justice is being undermined.

As we have a policy of ignoring the copyright of Iranian state news sources until Iran complies with international law, a report from the Islamic Republic News Agency appears below:

Muslim women allowed to wear face veils in UK courts

April 24, IRNA

Muslim women should be permitted to wear the niqab, or face veil, providing it did not interfere with the administration of justice, according to new official guidelines.

The guidance by the Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Advisory Committee (ETAC) follows a case at an immigration court last November, where a judge ordered an adjournment because he said he was having difficulty hearing legal executive Shabnam Mughal.

The permission is also seen at odds with guidelines issued by the Department of Education and Science last month that allowed schools to be able to ban pupils from face veils on security, safety or learning grounds.

In its guidance, the ETAC said forcing a woman to choose between participating in a court case or removing the veil could have a "significant impact on that woman's sense of dignity" and could serve to "exclude and marginalize."

Committee chairwoman Justice Cox said that at the heart of the guidance is "the principle that each situation should be considered individually in order to find the best solution in each case." "We respect the right for Muslim women to choose to wear the niqab as part of their religious beliefs, although the interests of justice remain paramount," Cox was quoted saying by the Daily Mail newspaper Tuesday.

"If a person's face is almost fully covered, a judge may have to consider if any steps are required to ensure effective participation and a fair hearing - both for the woman wearing a niqab and for other parties in the proceedings," she said.
The issue was politicized last year, when leader of the House of Commons, Jack Straw controversially called on Muslim women to remove face veils.

It came as a teaching assistant was suspended and then sacked for wearing a niqab veil during lessons at a West Yorkshire school in northern England.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 24, 2007 5:48 PM

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