August 6, 2010 on 9 News Australia:
Women giving evidence in court should be forced to remove face-covering burqas, Julia Gillard says.
Reacting to a Perth court case in which a woman's right to wear a burqa while testifying is being questioned, the Prime Minister said she thought it was one of the "limited" instances when it should be removed.
"I worked as a lawyer for eight years, I ran a lot of cases, I interviewed a lot of clients, having done that it can be very difficult to tell whether or not people are telling you the truth," she said.
"The essence of giving witness evidence is the court is making a determination over whether or not someone is telling the truth, that is always hard to do, I think it would be impossible to do if you couldn't see someone's face."
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Sadly she is wrong on the ability to tell if some one is lying by looking at their face. One aspect that may be needed in court however is to see ones emotions so that either side can possibly get an idea on how the questioning is going and possibly realign the jury/judges feelings.
ReplyDeleteForget telling if they are lying or feelings. Just stick to the basics: can she IDENTIFY herself?
ReplyDeleteWhy can they wear burqa all the time, and I can't wear balaclava anywhere?
ReplyDeleteGet a few friends to join you, claim it as an identifying feature of the group and maybe you can, too.
ReplyDeleteIf only it was so easy to tell. I agree with Dream Devil, stic to the proof, basics only.
ReplyDeleteJudging by emotions, facial expressions, etc., is not the best way for a lawyer to proceed in court, does this mean qualified actors should have to cover their faces, since they could decieve the jury and the lawyer with their acting ability. No, judge the evidence based on facts, not emotional responces. Some poeple are very good at controlling their emotional responces.
What about hooking them up to a lie detector? They do go through metal detectors too, right>
ReplyDelete