The Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal and Supreme Court issued a practice direction in February to allow for the modification of court attire during pregnancy. The direction states,“Counsel who are pregnant are free to modify their traditional court attire in order to accommodate their pregnancy as they see fit, including dispensing with a waistcoat and tabs.”
Informal accommodation practices have been common in P.E.I. courts for many years. This practice direction formalizes those measures and permits lawyers to accommodate their pregnancy without a requirement to seek prior authorization from the court. The clarity and certainty for counsel through this change is welcome news for many CBA members.
On behalf of all Women Lawyers Forum members in the province I want to say thank you to the Hon. David Jenkins, Chief Justice of the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal, the Hon. Tracey Clements, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward and all those involved in bringing this change forward.
Emily MacDonald is an associate at HR Atlantic Law located in Charlottetown.