The country’s high court says lifting of the requirement is temporary as Malawi battles high temperatures.
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A heatwave has forced Malawi’s constitutional court to suspend its requirement for lawyers and judges to wear traditional white wigs and black robes in the courtroom.
Temperatures in some parts of the southern African country have hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) this week, the country’s Department of Meteorological Services said.
Malawi, a former British colony, still follows the UK legal system, with the wearing of wigs and robes a requirement for judges and lawyers.
But Chikosa Silungwe, one of the lawyers in court this week in the capital, Lilongwe, said the heatwave was making the court’s work challenging.
“It’s simple really. The heatwave this week meant that the gowns and wigs were uncomfortable,” he said in a telephone interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
He was not ready to attribute the excessive heat to climate change, noting “that’s stretching it too far”.
But Jolamu Nkhokwe, Malawi’s director of climate change and meteorological services, said that while a range of factors contributed to higher temperatures, “the big suspect of this heatwave is climate change”.
“The (temperature) figures within their respective areas are higher than what is always expected during this time of the year,” as the Southern Hemisphere heads toward summer, he said.
Agnes Patemba, the registrar for the country’s high court and a judicial spokeswoman, said the lifting of the wig and gown requirement, which began on Wednesday, was a temporary measure.
“There is a heatwave and that has compelled the court to indeed do away with wigs and gowns. It is not the first time this has been done,” Patemba said in an interview.
Malawi’s high court is currently hearing a petition brought by the country’s political opposition seeking to nullify this year’s elections, which it says were marred by irregularities.
The country’s ministry of health has issued a press statement warning of heat risks and urging people to take precautions.
SOURCE: REUTERS NEWS AGENCY
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