article_snippet.sent: Following a controversial trial in 2003 of a Muslim woman accused of witness intimidation, Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas said there was a need for clear guidance on the issue.
article_snippet.sent: In Lord Neuberger's address, he said judges and lawyers often failed to recognise how 'artificial and intimidating' courts could be for ordinary people.
article_snippet.sent: he said: 'I sometimes wonder whether our trial procedures really are the best way of getting at the truth. '
article_snippet.sent: Would you feel that you had given of your best if you had been forced to give evidence in unfamiliar surroundings, with lots of strangers watching, in an intimidating court, with lawyers in funny clothes asking questions, often aggressively and trying to catch you out, and with no ability to tell the story as you remember the story?'
article_snippet.sent: The judge made the comments a week ago during an address to the Criminal Justice Alliance, in which The judge spoke of modern aspects of the British legal system.
article_snippet.sent: In a lengthy speech entitled 'Fairness in the courts: the best we can do', Lord Neuberger also said judges and lawyers should always keep in mind how 'intimidating' the court process can be for those involved in trials, including 'the parties, judges and lawyers families, the victims, the witnesses and the jurors'.
article_snippet.sent: Speaking in the context of legal aid cuts, Lord Neuberger said the importance of ensuring all parties involved in a case understand the goings-on in a court is now greater because 'people are having to choose between representing people or not getting justice at all'.
article_snippet.sent: It was a missed opportunity, however, not to acknowledge that occasionally – for example on a defendant wearing a full face veil – doing so might conflict with justice being seen to be done, or even justice being done. '
article_snippet.sent: My concern is not theoretical; My concern is now 18 months since a judge at Blackfriars Magistrate Court wasted a great deal of court time dealing with the question of full-face veils, and made a heartfelt plea for central guidance to avoid this inefficient use of expensive court's resources being replicated elsewhere. '
article_snippet.sent: The Lord Chief Justice's office has been dealing with this for a long time but seems disappointingly reluctant to issue any direction.'