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Something new, something old

16 October 2009 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7389 / Categories: Opinion , Human rights
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On the very day that the spanking new Supreme Court opened for business, legal tradition reasserted itself. Over the flagstones that had witnessed the trial of Charles I in Westminster Hall walked the elite of the legal world as they made their way to lunch after the traditional service for the opening of the legal year.

On the very day that the spanking new Supreme Court opened for business, legal tradition reasserted itself. Over the flagstones that had witnessed the trial of Charles I in Westminster Hall walked the elite of the legal world as they made their way to lunch after the traditional service for the opening of the legal year.

And what a sight they were. Supreme Court justices wore their new gold-embellished robes—slightly too reminiscent of doormen at the posher type of hotel. Lady Hale was resplendent in the black silk bonnet that she had apparently designed herself. High Court judges wore a magnificent combination of scarlet and fur.

Circuit judges were clothed in a fetching purple. And, at the

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