Courtroom Couture
From a conversation with the Chief Justice of Kiribati, a small Pacific Island nation on the Barristers uniform:
Erica Vowles: So to put it in context, how much does a barrister's wig cost and what percentage of a barrister's yearly wage does that represent?
Robin Millhouse: Well a new wig these days costs well over $1,000. I have no idea how much the lawyers earn, because that's a matter for them-I don't come into the question of what costs they charge their clients, so I just don't know- but when I tell you that the President of the Republic is on an income of only about $15,000 a year, you can see that money is pretty important and very scarce here.
Erica Vowles: So what happens at the moment? How much swapping of wigs and gowns goes on while court is in session?
Robin Millhouse: An undesirable amount. There's no problem about gowns, everybody's got gowns, there are plenty of gowns, they're not nearly so expensive. But there just aren't enough wigs to go around.
Erica Vowles: And so there will be a situation where a barrister will step out of court and hand the wig over to the next practitioner that needs to appear before the court?
Robin Millhouse: Yes; they don't step out of court, they step away from the bar table and just hand it over or throw it over to whoever's coming to the bar table. It's not very dignified and it rather spoils the whole effect of formality in our robing.
I'm in two minds on the requirement of Barristers to wear the formal robs, wig and jabot of the English common law tradition. I think if i was required to make reform in the matter i would do away with the archaic form of dress used at the moment and introduce an affordable new uniform to be protocol for all jurisdictions. The uniforms design would incorporate modern materials and manufacturing while paying homage to the previous uniform to maintain the established link to the common laws unbroken heritage.