Ask Auntie

Is it contemptuous conduct for an advocate to read in court while waiting for his case to be called?

Harvey Rascalle, Cheadle

Anything disrespectful to the judiciary is capable of amounting to contempt although much would depend on the nature of the work in question and whether you are a local solicitor or counsel from up London. Law reports are quite safe provided unaccompanied by nostril picking and consumption of one of the noisier brands of crisps. Any legal articles on judicially reviewing the Legal Services Commission or cracking the coded orders of Mr Justice Peter Smith could be dodgy. Better to secrete behind the cover of the Church Times or keep an ear on the proceedings and laugh helplessly every time the judge cracks a joke. None of these rules applies to the centres of graffiti excellence they call magistrates' courts where soft porn can be openly studied. Indeed, the “stipe” may insist on you sharing it with him.

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