Judge orders Muslim Woman to remove veil during High Court dispute

The woman was embroiled in a dispute with her estranged husband over their children.

She didn't wish to be seen "unveiled" by male participants unless the Judge deemed it "necessary", barrister Alistair Perkins said.

Judge Sarah Morgan said the woman should uncover her face when she & her estranged husband were giving evidence.

The Family Court hearing was told the woman from Yemen came to the UK almost twenty years ago as a refugee & was an "adherent Muslim" who ordinarily covered her face.

Judge Morgan said she was sympathetic to the woman's desire to wear her veil & ordered she "uncover" only when she & her husband were giving evidence.

The woman claimed that her Somalian-born husband - who she lived within Sheffield - had been controlling when they were together & wouldn't even let her put the bin out without him being present.

He denied the allegations.

The Judge concluded the man had wrongly removed the children from their mother's care & taken them abroad.

Evidence was heard in late 2020 & the Judge's decisions have since been published online.

In her verdict, she said: "I was sympathetic to the submission made on the mother's behalf, that whilst she appreciated that the male counsel acting would wish to see her face, it was not necessary for all other participants to the hearing to see her."

She said the family involved could not be identified in media reports of the case. 

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