just spoken to a barrister friend and i think it has become more relaxed now and at the discretion of the judge or clerk of court and depends on the dress etiquette of the court.
When I was travelling the country designing courtrooms many years ago, i witnessed the humiliation of a young barrister who stood up to speak
The judge put her hand out and said "Mr Smith, I can not hear you"
so he apologized and raised his voice
The judge again put her hand out and said "Mr Smith, i still can not hear you"
again he apologized and raised his voice further which was also quite nervy
The judge then said "Mr Smith, the reason i can not hear you is because you have a poppy in your lapel, kindly remove it so you may be heard in court"
I met the judge after the court sitting to discuss the design of the new court room and she was a bit of a battleaxe but was very thankful for her new court when it was completed a few months later
over the four years doing courtrooms I met and encountered some fascinating and sometimes bizarre people and got involved with some interesting situations.
I visited Nottingham Crown Court to measure up and survey a court room and got mistaken for a member of the legal counsel for the Beverly Allot trial and quickly ushered into a back room of a courtroom to avoid the TV cameras and reporters.
i had a large pilots case and was smartly dressed so i can understand the confusion but it was quite funny having to explain who i was after about 10 minutes of chaos
The nicest and most interesting people i met were many of the Clerks of Courts in the Mag courts who were fantastic to deal with
