U.K. one step closer to Sharia

Head of immigration tribunals gives legal staff the OK to wear the veil in court

Lawyers can wear the Islamic veil in court, senior judges have ruled. The ruling comes after an immigration judge refused to allow a lawyer to appear in his court wearing a full-face niqab earlier this week.

The immigration case was postponed after Muslim Shabnam Mughal said removing the veil would go against her religious beliefs.

Yesterday, the country's most senior immigration judge said that legal representatives should be allowed to wear the veil because "it is important to be sensitive in such cases".

Mr Justice Hodge, president of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, said: "The representative in the recent case has appeared veiled previously at hearings without difficulties."

The judge - who is the husband of Industry Minister Margaret Hodge - added: "The presumption is that if a representative before a tribunal wishes to wear a veil, 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."

The veil row began after Judge George Glossop objected to Miss Mughal wearing a veil when she appeared at a tribunal in Stoke-on-Trent on Monday.

He asked her to remove the veil because he said she could not be heard properly and adjourned the case until later that day - when she refused.

When the hearing continued, Judge Glossop told her that removing the veil would assist with communications and "will also allow me to see your face and I cannot hear you as well as I would like".

Miss Mughal again refused and told the judge: "You are clearly aware of my position. On the grounds of my religious beliefs, I won't."

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In the words of "Are You Being Served"'s Mrs Slocombe: "Weak as water, the whole lot of ya!"

"And I am UNANIMOUS in that!"