Sukhveer Kandola

One in six people experience some form of hearing loss but are not always easy to identify. Sukhveer Kandola and Narita Bahra explain what barristers can do to secure a fair trial for clients with hearing difficulties.

Imagine this. You are being cross-examined. You stand silently in the box, surrounded by smart people in wigs and gowns. The room is large, the ceiling is high and there is limited, if any, sound amplification. There is a constant murmur of voices in the background and an intermittent clicking sound. You stare ahead and you concentrate. You really concentrate, but it is not enough and you don’t quite catch the entire question. You ask for the question to be repeated, but you miss it again. You continue to look into the abyss because if you focus long enough, you will work out what is being asked. All eyes are on you and this is your moment to answer. Do you embarrass yourself by asking for the question to be repeated again? Or do you save face and guess what the question was and answer as best you can? You decide on the latter and you continue guessing until you are told you are no longer required and can go back and take a seat in the dock. Should you have said that you have problems with your hearing? You worry whether this will impact the outcome and whether you should say something to your counsel now. But surely he would have already noticed? So you sit down and hope it will all turn out okay.