Gideon Maundu | Nation Chief Justice Willy Mutunga is greeted by Lady Justice Anne Williams of the United States Court of Appeals after the opening of the Judges’ Annual Colloquium at the Serena Beach Hotel on August 15, 2011. Dr Mutunga opened the five-day meeting. Looking on is Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza.
By EUNICE MACHUHI emachuhi@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, August 15 2011 at 22:00
Posted Monday, August 15 2011 at 22:00
IN SUMMARY
- Wigs and robes as well as grandiose titles to go in sweeping changes
The wigs and robes worn by judges and lawyers and grandiose titles that have for years characterised court sessions will soon be a thing of the past as the wind of change continues in the Judiciary.
Chief Justice Willy Mutunga made it clear that this transition would be part of his legacy when he declared yesterday that time had come to change judicial attire and the way judges were addressed in court.
He said that although the attire distinguished court proceedings and was intended to project dignity, prestige and announcing the court was in session, it was not right under the new Constitution, to impose a dress code.
Similar titles such as ‘‘Your Lordship” (for male judges) and “Your Ladyship”(for female judges) could soon be confined to history books in preference of humbler titles such as “Your Honour” currently used in addressing magistrates.
He said the fashion of dressing by judges ended centuries ago.
Such issues will be debated and the public involved in arriving at a consensus.
“The majority of the people in many countries who are the main consumers of justice have historically never taken part in the dress and address of the judiciaries.”
Justice Mutunga said there was need to rethink the relevance of the colonial relics reflected in the judicial attire and address under the new Constitution.
The CJ was presenting a paper titled “Dressing and addressing the Kenyan Judiciary-reflecting on the history and politics of judicial attire and address” to judges attending this year’s annual colloqium at Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa.
He observed that judicial attire had changed throughout history, adapting to newly empowered governments, populist movements and popular fashions.
Dressing the Supreme Court for instance, presented an opportunity to interrogate the traditions of the judicial system, its practices and access to justice in Kenya and to propose new ideas that portrayed the spirit of reform that the Constitution embodied.
Last month, Justice Mutunga was quoted as saying that the judges would not wear “colonial wigs and robes”.
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