What does the wig on the lawyer’s head mean?

Yuan Jingjing lawyer WeChat public platform: baiyiyuanlvshi

Under the Commonwealth judicial system (such as Hong Kong, China), lawyers are divided into solicitors who serve the parties directly and barristers who represent the parties.

The difference between the two can easily be seen in appearance: the barrister (ie, the trial attorney), like the judge, wears a well-made robe and wears a hand-woven wig . As one of the courtrooms of barristers and judges, wigs give a solemn, ceremonial feeling and have always been a symbol of the British judicial system .

There are two main styles of wigs today, one is a long wig with long shoulders, worn in grand events and ceremonial occasions; the other is a short wig that only covers the top of the head and is worn in a regular court. The wigs used by judges and barristers in the early days were long to the waist and shoulders until the British began to switch to small wigs in civil cases in 1780. The wigs used today (Tie-Wig) appeared in 1822 and are made of ponytail. Each wig has a fine workmanship and cannot be mass-produced by machine or production line. It must be hand-woven and rolled by artisans, usually It takes 44 hours to complete one.

Therefore, the price of such vests for vestments is quite high. The wigs used by judges are worth about 1,500 pounds (15,000 renminbi), and the average is nearly 300 pounds. The bench wig used in the ceremony is Up to 4,000 pounds (a contract of 40,000 yuan). In order to assist judges in the purchase of expensive traditional clothing, the judiciary usually gives the High Court judges a subsidy of about 30,000 pounds, and the circuit judge can get a subsidy of 20,000 pounds.

Some people think that judges and litigators wear the wigs of the specified style according to their identities, giving people a sense of " dehumanization ", which symbolizes the impartiality of the law, and the judge wearing a wig represents the removal of selfish distractions and becomes the embodiment of the rule of law. , impartial and unselfish handling of cases, in line with the accuracy and emphasis of stability and balance required by the judiciary.

Some people think that wearing a wig means that the judiciary is a solemn and formal act, and it is very ritualistic, not a casual act on the street; judges and court attorneys wear gray-white wigs, which makes them feel highly respected and conform to the world’s insights in traditional society. The elderly who are trained to be the habit of the mediator. When a judge wears a wig, the ruling is easier to convince and represents the authority and importance of the judge.

There is also a saying that wearing a wig is to protect the lawyer, and the defense of the litigator in the court may cause some people to be dissatisfied. Wearing a wig can make the lawyer cover up his identity, and also means that they are innocent and innocent. Regardless of the judgment, it is only the exercise of the rights conferred by law.

Many judges and litigators have only one wig and never change it. They believe that the older the wig, the higher the qualifications in the legal profession . After the law school students are qualified as lawyers, the best gift given to them by family members or friends is a wig made by a famous artist. Many of the techniques used by wig makers are passed down from generation to generation. Many wig makers have a tradition of requiring buyers to sign for each wig sold. In these records, many autographs of well-known politicians can be found because they Often they are all lawyers.

Hong Kong litigators are one of the last group of lawyers in the world to wear wigs. These curly horsehair wigs are a legacy of British colonial rule for more than 150 years, but have always been loved by Hong Kong lawyers. This explains why it is often possible to see a lawyer wearing a wig in a Hong Kong drama.