Judges in England and Wales have been advised to avoid terms such as “asylum seekers”, “immigrant”, “gays” and “lame” in new guidance on “politically incorrect” language.
A new edition of the Equal Treatment Bench Book sets out in 350 pages how judges should communicate with witnesses, defendants and lawyers in courts and tribunals in England and Wales.
As reported by The Telegraph, It advises that “person seeking asylum” is now preferred to “asylum seekers” as it is more humanising and warns that terms such as “immigrant”, “people seeking asylum” and “refugee” should only be used where such terms are factually correct in connection with the particular individual.
“Even then, ‘immigrant’ should be used with caution, as it can sound exclusionary, especially for a person who has lived in the UK for a long time or who has gained British nationality,” it says.
“The words ‘immigrant’ or ‘second generation immigrant’ should never be used to describe a black, Asian or ethnic minority person who was born in the UK.”
For sexual orientation, terms such as “gays/a gay” and “homosexuals/a homosexual” are ruled unacceptable. Homosexual, for example, echoes discriminatory attitudes and practices in the past, says the guidance. “Dyke or queer may be used by gay people themselves but should not be used by judges.”
For trans witnesses or defendants, judges are advised to accept their chosen sex irrespective of whether they have physically changed gender.
“It should be possible to work on the basis of a person’s chosen gender identity and their preferred name/pronouns, ‘he/she or they’, for most court and tribunal purposes, regardless of whether they have obtained legal recognition of their sex/gender by way of a gender recognition certificate,” it says.
However, in cases where a victim may have been raped by a transgender person, the guidance says judges should respect how they want to define their experience of the assault.
“For example, a victim of domestic abuse, sexual violence or assault by a trans person is likely to describe the perpetrator in accordance with the victim’s experience and perception of the events. To do otherwise would be likely to affect the quality of their evidence of traumatic events.”
On disabilities, negative terms to be avoided include “lame – even when referring to an argument in court”. Also judged unacceptable are terms such as handicapped or the disabled, or “suffers from”. Instead, judges are advised to use “has”, “experiences” condition, or other more neutral terminology.
Also banned are attacks (as in “epileptic attacks; migraine attacks”). Instead, judges are advised to use “episodes”. Wheelchair-bound is ruled inappropriate with an alternative being “wheelchair user”.
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