Judge asked lawyer to remove her veil but she refused
A United Kingdom law firm removed a Muslim lawyer from a case after she refused to remove her veil in court.
Last week, when Shabnam Mughal, 27, was representing a man denied a visitor's permit for his nephew, Judge George Glossop asked her to remove her veil because he couldn't hear her. Mughal refused and the case was adjourned.
Then yesterday, when Mughal was to address an immigration tribunal, her firm, The Law Partnership, replaced her with a partner, Abdul Khan.
A spokesperson for the firm said that it was in the best interests of the client to send a partner.
Justice Henry Hodge, president of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) issued guidance to judges last week to decide veil issues on a case-by-case basis.
In his statement, Justice Hodge said that representatives before an AIT tribunal should be allowed to wear a veil if her client is okay with it and she can be heard clearly by all parties.
The client Mughal was supposed to represent, Jagdev Singh, told the Associate Press that he didn't have a problem hearing her and that "she should have been allowed to wear it."
Last week, when Shabnam Mughal, 27, was representing a man denied a visitor's permit for his nephew, Judge George Glossop asked her to remove her veil because he couldn't hear her. Mughal refused and the case was adjourned.
Then yesterday, when Mughal was to address an immigration tribunal, her firm, The Law Partnership, replaced her with a partner, Abdul Khan.
A spokesperson for the firm said that it was in the best interests of the client to send a partner.
Justice Henry Hodge, president of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) issued guidance to judges last week to decide veil issues on a case-by-case basis.
In his statement, Justice Hodge said that representatives before an AIT tribunal should be allowed to wear a veil if her client is okay with it and she can be heard clearly by all parties.
The client Mughal was supposed to represent, Jagdev Singh, told the Associate Press that he didn't have a problem hearing her and that "she should have been allowed to wear it."
