Judges will be keeping their hair on after the handover, except those sitting in the Court of Final Appeal.
The traditional wigs and gowns, regarded by some as outdated remnants of the colonial era, will still be worn by judges and barristers in the SAR, it was announced yesterday.
But Chief Justice-designate Andrew Li Kwok-nang, who made the decision, will not be wearing a wig in the newly established Court of Final Appeal.
He and his fellow appeal court judges will be bare-headed although they will sport black gowns trimmed with frilly lace at the neck.
The decision to keep the traditional costumes was welcomed by many members of the legal profession. Senior government barrister Andrew Bruce QC, dismissed suggestions the wigs and gowns were mere symbols of the colonial era.
'I don't regard it so much as colonial but as a symbol of continuity,' he said.