No Niqāb in the Witness Box

For those following the controversy in Western Australia, District Court Judge Deane today ruled that a woman must remove her Niqāb (Burqa) while giving evidence. The woman had previously requested to wear the Niqāb in evidence because she would feel uneasy being seen without it and she was concerned that this may affect her evidence.

The case relates to the fraud charges against Anwar Sayed, who is alleged to have falsified documents at an Islamic school in order to get increased government grants.

Whether or not a court will permit a person to give evidence with their face covered is always going to be an issue which is dealt with differently by different judges and which to a large degree will turn on its facts. But it would still be interesting to read the reasons. An interlocutory ruling such as this does not usually make its way on to Austlii but hopefully they will make an exception because of the media attention. Although the District Court of WA website says ‘No criminal decisions are available online, due to the risk of publication impacting on an upcoming trial.’

If anyone comes across the reasons please email them through to me.