Next stop Sharia law 
Muslim women will be allowed to wear a veil in court under new guidelines issued following a dispute last year.
The Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Advisory Committee examined whether women should be allowed to wear the full facial covering, the niqab.
Decisions should be made on each case and veils should not interfere with the administration of justice, it found.
It follows the adjournment of a case in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, after a legal advisor refused to remove her veil.
Judge George Glossop said he was having difficulty hearing legal executive Shabnam Mughal at the immigration court in November.
The guidelines say forcing a woman to choose between her religious identity and taking part in a court case could have a "significant impact on that woman's sense of dignity" and could serve to "exclude and marginalise" her.
Committee chairwoman Mrs Justice Cox said: "We respect the right for Muslim women to choose to wear the niqab as part of their religious beliefs, although the interests of justice remain paramount."
The Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Advisory Committee examined whether women should be allowed to wear the full facial covering, the niqab.
Decisions should be made on each case and veils should not interfere with the administration of justice, it found.
It follows the adjournment of a case in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, after a legal advisor refused to remove her veil.
Judge George Glossop said he was having difficulty hearing legal executive Shabnam Mughal at the immigration court in November.
The guidelines say forcing a woman to choose between her religious identity and taking part in a court case could have a "significant impact on that woman's sense of dignity" and could serve to "exclude and marginalise" her.
Committee chairwoman Mrs Justice Cox said: "We respect the right for Muslim women to choose to wear the niqab as part of their religious beliefs, although the interests of justice remain paramount."
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