‘Plainly inappropriate’
Eyebrows were raised in the High Court’s Chancery Division when a witness appeared to interpret the legal expression ‘Man on the Clapham omnibus’ a bit too literally.
In the recent ruling of Raja & Anor v ATM Law & Ors, Master Clark disclosed that he had to intervene during the hearing after discovering that a witness was participating remotely while traveling on a bus.
Master Clark described the move as “plainly inappropriate”. The witness subsequently left the bus, and the judge permitted him to provide evidence remotely from a “quiet place, albeit in a public space”.
It’s not just witnesses who sometimes test the court’s limits — judges can too. During the pandemic, a magistrate in Brazil joined a meeting with colleagues topless but returned shortly after, appropriately dressed in a shirt and tie.