Get rid of wigs in courts, says police chief

One of Britain's most senior police chiefs has called for the banning of Latin phrases and the wearing of gowns and wigs in criminal trials after attacking the court system as a "bizarre ritual" which few people can understand.

Peter Neyroud, the Chief Constable of Thames Valley, said criminal courts were filled with people "bobbing up and down", speaking a language only lawyers and scholars comprehended. He appealed to Lord Irvine of Lairg, the Lord Chancellor, to "take a bold step and remove the gowns and wiggery".

His proposal will be strongly resisted by some criminal lawyers and Lord Irvine himself. They believe that many of the ancient traditions, including wigs and Latin, still play an important role in the criminal courts.

Mr Neyroud, 43, who is tipped as a future commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said the criminal justice system needed updating. He told The Independent: "We have still got this over-formal system filled with rituals. People bobbing up and down in the court. Some with wigs, some without. It is all about bizarre rituals. Then you have the Latin and Greek. I'm virtually alone in understanding it, apart from lawyers and judges. I believe it is completely unnecessary. It seems to be the best possible system for excluding the involvement or understanding of the general public."

Mr Neyroud, who was appointed head of Thames Valley Police six months ago, also criticised the courts for being slow and for employing procedures so complex that court officials do not understand them. He said: "The rules need to be simplified. The current system is out of date."

He applauded reforms by Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, who has replaced the trappings of legal jargon as part of a review of civil courts, and asked why similar sweeping changes could not be made in the criminal system.