Officials have confirmed that mentioning the word “strike” while on court premises is a naughty step offence
Imposing a court robing room ban on discussion of the ongoing protests against legal aid cuts had all the hallmarks of HM Courts & Tribunals Service taking diktats straight from M Gove, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary.
And officialdom’s gagging order has not gone down well with at least one habitué of Kingston Crown Court in west London.
This photograph illustrating the defacing of the announcement of Judge Lodder’s elevation to Honorary Recorder of the London borough was tweeted last week by Yosuf Solley, a criminal law barrister at Church Court Chambers in The Temple.
The barbed scrawl came in the wake of confirmation from Whitehall that a Northern Circuit judge-issued edict banning meetings to discuss strike action was official policy for court buildings.