The black cap is a plain black fabric square formerly worn as symbolic headgear by English, Welsh, Irish and Northern Irish

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s in criminal cases when passing a

sentence of death ''Sentence of Death'' is an EP and the debut release by German thrash metal band Destruction, released on 10 November 1984 by Steamhammer Records. Track listing Personnel ; Destruction * Schmier – bass, vocals * Mike Sifringer – ...

. When worn, the square was placed on top of the judicial

wig A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...

, with one of the four corners of the fabric facing forward. The cap is based on Tudor court styles. Although the death penalty has long been abolished in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, the black cap is still part of a judge's official

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereig ...

, and is carried into the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...

by each sitting judge when full ceremonial dress is called for. It is worn every year on 9 November, when the new

Lord Mayor of the City of London Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

is presented to the

Law Courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

. It is also forms part of the regalia of a judge of the

High Court of Northern Ireland The courts of Northern Ireland are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in Northern Ireland: they are constituted and governed by the law of Northern Ireland. Prior to the partition of Ireland, Northern Ir ...

. The black cap was worn by judges in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

passing death sentences until the death penalty was abolished by the

Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 The Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which abolished the death penalty for murder in Northern Ireland, and established the Diplock courts in which terrorist offences were tried by ...

. The black cap was also used in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, whose legal system was modelled on the English courts. It remained in use in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

; there was only one such cap, kept by the

county registrar A county registrar () is an official attached to the Irish Circuit Court who carries out a number of quasi-judicial and administrative functions regarding the functioning of the court within their assigned county or counties. The county registra ...

in Dublin's

Four Courts The Four Courts ( ga, Na Ceithre Cúirteanna) is Ireland's most prominent courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circui ...

. George Gavan Duffy was the first judge to break the tradition, not wearing the black cap when pronouncing a death sentence in 1937. Thereafter, it was a matter of personal preference, with some judges wearing it and some not, as there was no formal rule or law requiring them to do so. The last execution took place in 1954, although death sentences were sometimes passed and then commuted to life imprisonment until the death penalty was finally abolished by the Criminal Justice Act 1990. It has been claimed, with little conclusive proof, that the word " kibosh" has its origin in the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

''caip bháis'' ("cap of death"), referring to the black cap. Such claims go back as far as 1936, placing it in the era of the infamous John Toler, 1st Earl of Norbury (Chief Justice 1800–1827).

References

* The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable () Hats Capital punishment in the United Kingdom Judicial clothing {{UK-law-stub