Sir, I understand the mixed views about wigs, but why are judges even considering doing away with robes, which they have worn, with only slight modifications, for six centuries? Robes perform an important symbolic function, and in the case of the judges they represent for wearers as well as observers the importance of continuity in our legal tradition.

Their symbolism is greatly enhanced by the knowledge that they are not the invention of imaginative couturiers but a proud inheritance. These are the robes of Coke, of Hale, of Holt, of Mansfield. They have been worn through all the vicissitudes of our history, through the Wars of the Roses, the Civil War, and the Blitz, by the guardians of our system of justice. They are well known everywhere and are still worn in many Commonwealth countries and even in some former Commonwealth countries. The reason for that is obvious to all. No other costume is more closely associated with freedom, judicial independence and fairness.

The remarkable costume modelled by the Lord Chief Justice owes nothing to our traditions of formal dress in this country, and seems to have been inspired by science-fiction cinema. At a time when the law of England faces perhaps the biggest threats in its history, it is severely unsettling to the public to find our judges wanting to look like warlords from outer space.

Professor Sir John Baker
St Catharine’s College, Cambridge

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