Veil–wearing lawyer in UK removed from case

A Muslim lawyer who refused to remove her veil while representing a client in court was removed from the case by her firm.

Shabnam Mughal, 27, was to have represented a client at an immigration tribunal. Instead, her firm, The Law Partnership, replaced her.

"In the interests of the client, it was decided to send a partner," practice manager Javid Hussain said. Shabnam last week represented a man who had been denied a visitor's permit for a nephew.

Judge George Glossop, who was hearing the matter in Hanley, Staffs, asked Shabnam to remove her veil, saying he could not hear her.
Shabnam refused, and the case was adjourned.

Recently, the president of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, Justice Henry Hodge, issued guidance to tribunal judges to decide issues involving veils on a case–by–case basis.

"The presumption is that if a representative before an AIT 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," Hodge said.

Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, said the issue would be considered further by senior judges and the Judicial Studies Board. Phillips called for detailed guidance to be quickly drawn up regarding anyone involved in a case wearing a veil.

At the hearing centre in Stoke–on Trent in central England, Khan told reporters that the firm's decision to reassign the case was not a reflection on Mughal or her choice of wearing the veil.

"It is not an issue of us backing down. We represent clients and our duty is to make sure that their interests are at the forefront of our mind," Khan said.

He said Mughal would continue to wear her veil during hearings.

The client, Jagdev Singh, however, said he had been disappointed by the judge's call for Mughal to remove her veil.

"I had no problem hearing her. I think she should have been allowed to wear it," Singh said.

Mughal has declined to comment.