Court dress code controversy may be ironed out

A motion presented by the Labour Party in Parliament last week could be withdrawn if the government amends the dress code for lawyers in the criminal courts as published in a legal notice, party leader Joseph Muscat has told The Times.

The legal notice, saying that female lawyers are to wear a suit or a skirt and white blouse when appearing before any of the superior courts of criminal jurisdiction, is expected to be amended today, a spokesman for the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry said.

An amendment has already been made to the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure, stating that female lawyers could also wear trousers.

Dr Muscat raised the issue on Sunday, calling the legal notice discriminatory because men and women are to be treated as equals and women should be allowed to choose whether to wear a skirt or trousers.

But his accusation was dismissed by the head of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality, Sina Bugeja, who said she did not perceive it as discriminatory although it went into "excessive detail".

Speaking to The Times, Dr Muscat yesterday stuck to his guns, maintaining that the legal notice sent the wrong message. He said it also differentiated between "advocates" and "lady advocates", seemingly indicating that advocates were only males.

He said that since only the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure had been amended, the Opposition's motion was still relevant, although the party would consider withdrawing it if the criminal court dress code was also changed.

Dr Muscat admitted he was mistaken when on Sunday he said that the party was going to present the motion after the Christmas holidays, since this had already been presented last week.