Denmark: Lay judges wearing headscarves

While the debate about banning headscarves in court continues, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten reports that there are already Danish lay judges with headscarves.

In the Western High Court in Aarhus one of the three lay judges this week was a woman with a Muslim headscarf. In the Eastern High Court in Nykøbing Falster a jury member wore a headscarf last week. Both non-jurist judges and jury members are considered lay judges in Denmark. Anybody with a right to vote for parliament may serve as a lay judge.

In the spring the high courts had received new four-year lists from which to choose lay judges and juries, and the municipalities had tried to include more immigrants, women and youth on the lists.

In the fall the courts had decided to allow headscarves. Bjarne Christensen, chairman of the Western High Court doesn't see a problem with lay judges wearing headscarves, as long as it doesn't hide a woman's identity.

Lawyer Henning Lyngsbo, who appeared in the case in the Western High Court before such a judge disagrees. He says that she showed that she was a strong believer in Islam, which is fairly harsh in it attitude towards guilt and punishment. However, he says that all six judges agreed in this concrete case.

Pia Kjærsgaard, head of the Danish People's Party, says that the headscarves are provocation. She wants the government's law against headscarves for judges to include lay judges.

She accepts that the idea of lay judges is that they'll reflect society, but says that there are many things people wear in society, but that doesn't mean it should be reflected in court.

The Socialist People's Party (SP) had refused to take a stand regarding the government's proposal on a headscarf ban for jurist judges. In his speech in parliament yesterday, Villy Søvndal (SP), said that the discussion about judges with a headscarf was hypothetical. He says that he was speaking of jurist judges, and that jury members are a completely different story. They reflect Danish society, and it would be strange if we first said that and then prevented somebody from being a jury member.

Justice minister Lene Espersen says that jurist judges may not wear religious or political symbols, but jury members and lay judges may do so. She says that having lay judges who are not ethnic Danes shows that integration in Denmark works, and that they accept the Danish justice system and the way in which the court functions, and that's good.

See also: Denmark: Proposed law to ban hijab for judges, Denmark: Renewed debate about hijab, Denmark: First veiled judge (to be), Denmark: Debate about headscarf in court, Denmark: Judges can be veiled