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A promised era of more open justice at the nation's new Supreme Court got under way today — with the media barred from witnessing the historic ceremony.
Journalists had to wait outside as the 11 new Justices of the Supreme Court were sworn in inside the refurbished Middlesex Guildhall in Parliament Square.
Lord Phillips, head of the new panel of judges who sat at the House of Lords until the end of July, had hailed the institution as an opportunity to bring to the public the workings of the highest court in the land. But journalists and the public were told there was no room and the proceedings would be broadcast live.
The judges emerged from the newly emblazoned Supreme Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council resplendent in their modern regalia. Gone were the full-bottomed wigs, robes and breeches.
The Justices of the Supreme Court posed in front of the building wearing black robes, lavishly threaded with gold. All were bare-headed save for Baroness Hale. They then joined judges from the High Court and Court of Appeal, who still wore their wigs, for prayers at Westminster Abbey.
