Why do British lawyers and judges wear wigs?

To make them look wise.

hi.....its funny you ask.....because in my law enrichment subject at school we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. they wore wigs since like the 1600's and there is no specific practical purpose, but its helps to distinguish between more......and less important members of the court. people constantly tried to outdo each others wigs. any person with a particularly big wig was given exactly that name........bigwig!!! hope you find it interesting

It's not just a wig, it's a WHITE wig. It represents the wisdom presumably acquired with age. In ancient times, trials were conducted by the elders, who often had white hair. Court is serious business. The clothing and furniture are reserved exclusively for court, to underscore the importance of the proceedings. The costuming is used for the same reasons your parents make you wear your best clothes to church: (a) to acknowledge and respect the office, and (b) you are less likely to act up when you are wearing your serious clothes.

To cover their unwashed hair and make them look gay.

I was asking myself this very question yesterday. It is certainly because of the concept of the tradition and integrity of British law. But, despite a few Hollywood-style trials, the US law system seems to have enough dignity about itself. I do think that our guys in the UK look rather silly, but perhaps the most deliberate reason for the maintenance of the Georgian look is it's intimidatory factor. ie if some little criminal goes before all these guys who are dressed like Batman in drag, he's going to feel pretty isolated and may be more likely to "play along" as a result.

Tradition. Its because back then they had horrible hair problems so men usually dont have hair. Thus wigs. Also i think i read somewhere its fancy O.O

It is part of a tradition, and I think they just recently stopped doing that. I remember reading that in an article last year

all british lawyers and judges are cross dressers lol thats why they wear dresses too :)

Once I read an article that told me a lot about tradition and that it's very impotant, that the wigs are realy old. And it was a realy serious article in a realy serious paper (Der Spiegel), but I don't understand this tradition until this day. But that's okay, cause I'm not a British duck and I agree GB, cause while watching this TV-Movie, your question was creeping in my mind, too.