Should She Be Made To Remove Her Burkha?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2400844/Judge-orders-Muslim-woman-remove-burkha-court-appearance-bans-entering-plea-refuses.html

/// The woman, from Hackney, east London, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, ///

Surely not for legal reasons but because she is wearing that blooming Burkha?

[boxtops]

There's an easy resolution, which they just been discussing on the radio - take it off in front of a female court official in a private room so she can be i.d'd, then escorted by that official into the court. Then nobody can say she's not the person she claims to be.

[boxtops]

I didn't see that yesterday, s-c.

[TWR]

Yes, this IS THE UK.

[emmie]

yes she should...

[mikey4444]

I'm with you on this one emmie. Its ludicrous to expect a defendant to appear in the dock while being covered head to toe in a black sheet. How is the Jury supposed to make their minds up on the truth of her evidence when all they can see are two eyes ?

[Mosaic]

Yes she should. Or maybe then we followers of Spidey should be allowed also to wear our Spidey masks at all times unless Spiderman is in the room?

[anotheoldgit]

Space-Cadet

/// Did you miss this? ///


I did actually, sorry for this repetitive news story.

[sigma]

The wearing of the Burkha obstructs one aspect of body language, facial expression.

[THECORBYLOON]

SIGMA, since a blind person can sit on a jury, how would not being able to see body language or facial expressions be a problem?

[Old_Geezer]

I can see both sides of the story; but as time goes on I get more fed up with justifications along the lines of, "it's against my religion", or, "It's against my culture". If one opts to be in the UK one ought to accept it's way of doing things (legitimate protest as a UK citizen aside). If the 'woman to id' suggestion is acceptable then it may be a work-around concession, but one ought to be aware it isn't a right.

[THECORBYLOON]

The officer in charge of the case is satisfied the woman is the accused and if need be, her fingerprints could be checked so there are ways around the problem.

[chrisgel]

Since she was photographed while in police custody without too much fuss I wonder if this woman has only recently, and conveniently, took on this strong position of faith.

[FredPuli43]

Corby, a blind person can sit on a jury, but there are still eleven others who need to see the defendants face, whether she gives evidence or not. In practice, it is rare. A lot of cases involve documents and it is impractical to have them rendered into braille on the off chance that a blind person will be on the jury

[LazyGun]

I also think it would be impractical - and expensive! - to fingerprint this woman each time she took the stand in order to verify her identity.

I take the point that her identity could be verified in private by officers of the court, for instance, but I think being able to see a defendants face as questions are being asked and answered is pretty important.

Interesting point about blind jurors though- I had never considered that particular issue before...

[THECORBYLOON]

Sighted folk do not NEED to see the accused, it may be helpful but it not a requirement unless the defence is relying upon mistaken identity. Folk can be fingerprinted at the roadside so it is hardly going to be expensive to check them in court and she is hardly likely to take the stand more than a couple of times.

[ummmm]

I agree with the judge in this instance.

[keyplus90]

As a Muslim she must know that Islam asks Muslims to abide by the law of the land they are living in unless that law forces them against the fundamental belief of the religion. Even if the law forces them that way then still a Muslim should not break the law but should leave that place.

Now that is what Islam teaches but few Muslims only believe what suits them. These kinds of people are defaming and damaging the religion in the name of acting upon the religion. Especially when covering your face has nothing to do with any fundamental teachings of Islam.

[boxtops]

Keyplus, I agree with you - the law of the land has priority. Well said.

[THECORBYLOON]

With regard to documents being transcribed in Braille on the off-chance a juror is blind, a juror is asked to notify the court if they have a disability so the court would know in advance and arrangements could be made only for the cases he or she might be involved in and not every case.