The full Islamic veil should not be worn in courts, senior judges have decided.

New guidelines, expected shortly with the backing of the Lord Chief Justice, Britain’s most senior judge, will make clear that the preference is for full veils not to be worn in courts and tribunals.

But judges have taken the precaution of seeking legal advice before issuing their guidance to ensure that it complies with the law — and is not vulnerable to legal challenge.

The sensitive guidance also stops short of a prohibition on veils, originally favoured by some judges, and steers a careful path between judges who favour a ban and women lawyers and others who want flexibility. Instead, the final decision will be left to judges and magistrates in court, who can permit the full veil if it does not jeopardise the “interests of justice”.

The guidance, being finalised by the Judicial Studies Board’s equal treatment advisory committee, will apply to all those attending a court or tribunal, including the judge, magistrates, lawyers, jurors, witnesses and court staff. Judges can ask for a veil not to be worn if there is a reasonable objection, such as a witness or defendant not being able to hear properly.

It also toughens up the “case by case” approach issued in November, when courts were given interim guidance after a legal representative at an immigration tribunal in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, refused to remove her full-face veil, or niqab, when asked to do so by the judge.

Shabnam Mughal was dressed completely in black with the full-face veil leaving only her eyes visible. The judge had complained that he could not hear her “as well as I would like”. The case was adjourned, and then continued with different legal representatives.

The guidance is likely to be welcomed by legal professional bodies, who see it as nonprescriptive. The Law Society of England and Wales, which represents 100,000 solicitors, said that, in its view, the wearing of full-face veils dids not breach any professional conduct rules.

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