Judge Terrified Of Muslims So Peers Through Slit To Identify Woman

15th February 2014

A Muslim woman was allowed to wear a veil while giving evidence – even though a judge had to try to confirm who she was from photographs.

The crucial witness in a deportation case had her entire face, apart from her eyes, covered by a niqab.

Farcically, a judge was left trying to check her identity using a visa document with a photograph of her unveiled.

He had to peer at the small visible portion of her face in the vain hope of working out if it matched the picture.

The immigration tribunal’s decision has been quashed  by a senior judge, who said  it was procedurally unfair.  A new hearing will now  take place.

Britain’s top immigration judge, Mr Justice Bernard McCloskey, ruled that the original hearing had ‘elements of insufficient findings and inadequate reasoning’.


The case will spark calls for clearer rules on how courts treat people in religious dress.

Earlier this year, a Muslim defendant was allowed to  wear the niqab in court. But Rebekah Dawson, 22, was told she  must remove it if she wanted to give evidence.

Former justice secretary Ken Clarke said at the time that witnesses should not give  evidence while veiled, while a fair trial was impossible with a defendant ‘in a kind of bag’.

In the most recent case, the veiled woman was a witness in the immigration tribunal of a violent Afghan criminal, who she said was her brother.

The 20-year-old failed asylum seeker faced deportation after being jailed for 21 months for beating up his wife.

He claimed he would face discrimination in Afghanistan because of issues to do with his sister’s marriage.

Neither he nor his sister has been named.

Judge Thomas Halliwell took the woman’s word that she was who she claimed to be.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2559904/Judge-peers-eye-slits-identify-woman-veil-Farce-court-witness-allowed-stay-covered.html#ixzz2tOn7tlJw

ridiculous...just blooming ridiculous..

Absurd. She could have asked for a woman Judge in Chambers, end of problem.

Stupid.

Tess. wrote:Absurd.  She could have asked for a woman Judge in Chambers, end of problem.

I see what you are saying but that's going too far as far as I am concerned, everyone is equal under the law, she should be required to uncover her face in court to be identified and while giving evidence its her face for goodness sake not some intimate part, any way you all should know my stance on face coverings except perhaps in inclement weather, totally unjustifiable if you wish to do it as a devotional thing - do it in the mosque ( oh - you aren't supposed to) or at home, don't make other people have to put up with some foreign cultural habit.

Come to think of it, if Allah requires that your face is visible/uncovered during prayer, isn't covering your face as a sign of devotion or to be nearer Allah as some women claim is the reason they do it, something of a contradiction?

absolutely stupid

We have already passed laws to prevent this.. the majority of Muslims fully support the removing of the veil for legal proceedings.

veya_victaous wrote:We have already passed laws to prevent this.. the majority of Muslims fully support the removing of the veil for legal proceedings.

why dont they all remove it then , they need to be unity to be respected and all this does it cause outrage

DNA samples and finger printed.

Vintage wrote:Come to think of it, if Allah requires that your face is visible/uncovered during prayer, isn't covering your face as a sign of devotion or to be nearer Allah  as some women claim is the reason they do it, something of a contradiction?

Allah requires your face uncovered for hajj too. Its a personal preference for these women

In regards to the OP the PC laws are getting ridiculous!

Personal preferences liberation can be a dangerous thing - not physically perhaps but where does it end? This is not an Islamic country it has western values and face covering is not one of them, it seems as disrespectful to the host country's values as a woman in a bikini or indeed nude, striding down the main street in the Saudi Arabian capital, it may be her personal preference but its not her right to impose her personal preference on all who see her. Wear what you want although many Muslim women manage to remain modest without all the wrappings, just leave the face visible at least out of respect for your fellow non Muslim citizens. I ave to say though I saw a programme on a British Muslim girl visiting various Muslim countries finding out about the different codes of dress - an I was quite suprised to see girls in Jordan and Syria wearing western style tops and trousers which were so tight especially the trousers that it brought tears to my eyes just thinking about wearing them and left little to the imagination but they also wore headscarfs and no one looked twice, interesting.