Judges wigs?

[plasticfrog]

Why do they still wear them??

Why did they wear them in the first place?

Barristers and judges wear wigs and gowns so that they are not conspicuous as individuals, ie it is about the case and not about them.

They don't wear them when children are in court in order to be less intimidating.

I really like the wigs and gowns on the legals, when you see them flapping about around the RCJ you can't tell one from the other from a distance - which is what it is about.

They do make it rather harder for anyone to recognise them out of court. When I was on jury service recently I failed to recognise the judge we'd been sitting with for several days, as he got off his bike only feet away outside the court one morning. Someone else did twig, but I'd never have matched that ordinary looking bloke in a suit, up with the bewigged, begowned figure presiding in all his majesty in the courtroom.

I am a judge, not in the UK. We wear robes and a frilly jabot. A big part of it is to mark a distance between you and the "public" - a big part of that is personal security. It sounds silly, but even without a head covering, you do look very different with the uniform on. The anonymity aspect is very important.

Oh, and our uniform is free, one of the perks of the job, I suppose!

They always look like they would stink.

I am almost certain that the high court judge in a case I was involved with did wear a wig plus robe and neck piece.

Barristers both had slightly different robes and wigs which may have been due to one being QC and the other not.

The entire process is theatre. Serious and intimidating but theatre.

@MyLearnedFriend
Yes, I would agree. It makes me feel a little safer, less recognisable in the street.

This is why we call people with status and in important jobs “big wigs” as back in the (17th century) day larger, taller wigs were for the elite.

I work in a town a way away, but yes, I feel I do need a disguise. Not just for sentencing, but because there are some people who simply don't like what I do for a living. My job has made me very discreet and very very careful of social media, not just for me but for my children. I am sure you have the same, to some extent!

I work about 120km away, but the part of the world where I live is quite small, and it wouldn't be too difficult to find me, really. It has happened that I have come across people in the street / personally that I have met under court conditions.
We have guidelines to follow, and in general are quite careful.
If you are a barrister, you need to be careful yourself: I watched Keeping Faith a few weeks ago, and look at all the trouble the husband got into!

Erm... sorry, I would rather not say :)
It's just a rather small country with not the best legal reputation in the world :)

We have beaches and mountains and some strange local customs... I will whatsapp you if we need cover :)

DS has just reminded me of a friend of mine (judge), whose wife is the equivalent of a Public Prosecutor. He was involved in a scary case about 20 years ago. Graffiti started appearing in our town saying "Judge X, we know your wife is pregnant" (she was on maternity leave at the time).
Nothing happened, but it was a really awful time.

Only time I was ever in Court, because one of the parties was representing themselves, the Judge decided wigs would be removed. I felt swindled! I wanted the guys in wigs!

I started out in Magistrate's Court, and we just wore suits for that, which was a bit intimidating as most were quite local crimes.

@TheSageofOnions you'll have to commit a really juicy crime. That way you'll get the full treatment!

It was a civil case @yousignup. Maybe next time I'll try to get one involving more money (£M not £K).