What do white wigs stand for for British judges and barristers

By Lisa Crawley

我们经常能在影视作品中看到，英国法庭上的法官和律师都戴着一头白色卷发假发。在一些前英国殖民地，也可以看到这种具有不列颠特色的文化烙印。英国司法界人士为什么对假发情有独钟呢?这顶白色的假发是什么材质？造价如何？如果律师或法官不戴它出庭会怎样呢?接下来我们将为你一一科普。

In England wigs remain an important part of formal courtroom attire for judges and barristers—the term there for lawyers.

Many of the judges and barristers who wear wigs in court say the headpiece—also known as a peruke—brings a sense of formality and solemnity to proceedings.

Like many uniforms,wigs are an emblem of anonymity,an attempt to distance the wearer from personal involvement and a way to visually draw on the supremacy of the law,says Kevin Newton,a Washington,D.C.—based lawyer who studied law at the University of London.Wigs are so much a part of British criminal courts that if a barrister doesn't wear a wig,it's seen as an insult to the court.

Barristers must wear a wig slightly frizzed at the crown,with horizontal curls on the sides and back.In addition,there are two long strips of hair that hang down below the hairline on the neck and sport a looped curl at each end.Different types of lawyers,though,have distinctions in the style of wig.

A judge's wig is similar,but more ornate.It's a full wig,from a slightly frizzed top that transitions into tight horizontal curls that range several inches below the shoulders.

在英国，假发一直是法官和出庭律师法庭制服的重要组成。

许多法官和出庭律师表示，戴上这种假发会给诉讼程序增加庄严肃穆的仪式感。

来自华盛顿的律师凯文·牛顿曾在伦敦法学院学习法律系。他表示，和其他制服一样，假发是一种不露身份的象征，它试图将佩戴者的个人情感与法庭分割开来，从视觉上塑造法律的至高无上性。假发在英国刑事法庭中意义重大，如果一个律师不戴假发，则会被视为对法庭的侮辱。

出庭律师佩戴的假发样式必须是头顶后部稍卷，两侧和后脑带有水平卷曲。此外，脖子发际线下还要垂下两缕长长的头发，每缕末端也有一个环形卷曲。不同类型的律师，佩戴的假发风格也有所不同。

法官的假发样式和律师的差不多，但更为华丽，是一顶全头套假发，顶部微卷，向下逐渐变为浓密的水平卷曲，长度在肩膀以下几英寸。

Most wigs are made of white horse hair,but as a wig yellows with age,it takes on a coveted patina that conveys experience.

Horse hair may not seem like a particularly precious material,but pair specialty hair with an age-old craft of styling,sewing and gluing,and the resulting wigs aren't cheap.A judge's full-length wig can cost more than$3,000,while the shorter ones worn by barristers cost more than$500.

Wigs may have fallen out of general men's fashion over the centuries,but when wigs first made their appearance in a courtroom,they were part and parcel of being a well-dressed professional.

In the 17thcentury,only the elite wore powdered wigs made of horsehair.Those who couldn't afford the elite garb but wanted to look the part wore wigs made of hair from goats,spooled cotton or human corpses.

Wigs began to catch on in the late 16thcentury when an increasing number of people in Europe were contracting the STD.Withoutwidespread treatmentwith antibiotics,people with syphilis were plagued by rashes,blindness,dementia,open sores and hair loss.The hair loss was particularly problematic in social circles.

Wigs,when not used to cover syphilis-related hair loss,were a big help for those who had lice.After all,it was much more difficult to treat and pick through the hair on one's head than it was to sanitize a wig.

Over time,wigs fell out of fashion with society as a whole.During the reign of England's King George III,from 1760 to 1820,wigs were worn by only a few—namely bishops,coachmen and those in the legal profession.And bishops were permitted to stop wearing them in the 1830s.But the courts kept wigs for hundreds of years more.

In 2007,though,new dress rules did away with barrister wigs—for the most part.Wigs were no longer required during family or civil court appearances,or when appearing before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.Wigs,however,remain in use in criminal cases.

In the U.K.and Ireland,judges continued to wear wigs until 2011,when the practice was discontinued.In England,and other former English and British colonies—like Canada,for instance,whose provinces abandoned the wigs throughout the 19thand 20thcenturies,or Jamaica which removed the wigs in 2013—lawyers and judges now only wear wigs for ceremonies.

大多数假发都是由白色的马毛制成，但随着时间推移，假发会变黄，散发出代表着经验老道的光泽。

马毛似乎不算特别珍贵的材质，但将这些毛发用古老的工艺造型、缝纫、胶合，打造成假发并不便宜。一顶标准长度的法官假发售价超过3，000美元(约合人民币2万元)，而出庭律师佩戴的短假发也要花费500多美元(约合人民币3，300元)。

在过去的几个世纪里，假发已经从普通男士时尚中消失了。但当假发第一次出现在法庭上时，它是专业人士的得体穿着中必不可少的一部分。

在17世纪，只有社会精英才能佩戴马毛制成的扑粉假发。而那些买不起又想要充样子的人，只能戴山羊毛、棉花或死人毛发制成的假发。

假发在16世纪晚期开始流行。当时欧洲越来越多的人感染了性病，由于当时抗生素还没有广泛用于治疗，感染者饱受皮疹、失明、痴呆、开放性溃疡和脱发的折磨。而脱发的问题在社交圈中尤为严重。

除了掩盖性病导致的脱发，假发对长虱子的人来说也有很大帮助。毕竟处理头发上的虱子要比给假发消毒麻烦多了。

随着时间的推移，假发不再流行于整个社会。1760～1820年，英国国王乔治三世在位期间，只有少数的主教、马车夫和法律界人士佩戴假发。到19世纪30年代，主教获准停止佩戴假发。而法庭则将这项传统保留了数百年。

2007年的新着装规定基本免去了出庭律师的假发，当律师在家事法庭、民事法庭或英国最高法院出庭时，不需要再佩戴假发。但在刑事案件中，需佩戴假发。

在英国和爱尔兰，直到2011年法官佩戴假发的规定才取消。在英格兰和其他英国的前殖民地，律师和法官只需在参加仪式时佩戴假发。例如，加拿大在19和20世纪就遗弃了这一传统，而牙买加在2013年也取消了该规定。