Islamic Dress

BBC Radio 4's Law in Action was broadcast on Friday, 18 June, 2004 at 1600 BST.

This week the High Court decided that 15 year old Shabina Begum should not have the right to wear a full length Islamic gown, known as a jilbab, to school. Shabina believes that wearing the dress is a religious obligation. However, her school claims that one of its uniform options, a headscarf worn with a shalwar kameez, fully satisfies the Islamic dress requirements. Innes Bowen looks at what Islamic law says about women's dress and why Britain's new laws on religious discrimination do not necessarily protect the right to wear it.

Clamping down on abuse?
This week it was revealed that an extraordinary l20 solicitors firms were overcharging the legal aid budget by millions of pounds in asylum cases. As well as cracking down on these firms, the Legal Services Commission, the body that controls and administers legal aid in England and Wales, has announced a new venture which it hopes will stop further abuse. It's setting up its own firm of solicitors in Birmingham so that it can monitor the performance of a typical legal aid firm around the clock. But is this Big Brother, or an innovative attempt to keep an eye on valuable public money?

Taking Silk
The practice of 'taking silk', whereby barristers are promoted to Queen's Counsel, has long been criticised as being a secretive process, and one which encouraged favouritism and unfairness. Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, is conducting a review about how the 400-year-old system should best be reformed. Most agree that the way barristers and solicitors are promoted needs to be modernised, but will there be a consensus about whether or not to retain the title of QC? Law in Action investigates.

Juries
Earlier this week, a senior barrister was rejected from three separate juries at the Old Bailey, having recognised counsel in each of the cases. Nonetheless he was told that he must continue to present himself for jury selection. Is the new law which compels lawyers and judges to do their jury service unworkable, and will it have to be scrapped? We look at the difficulties of having lawyers in the jury box.