Court dress

sir – You report (October 15) that Oxford’s law students have objected to the wearing of scholars’ gowns because of the “unconscious bias” that they create at Law Faculty moots.

There is, of course, a direct parallel in the courts, where QCS wear different gowns from other barristers and are sometimes thought to benefit from a bias on the bench.

By banning scholars’ gowns, therefore, Oxford’s students would be removing an element of realism from their debates. Whether that will make the debates themselves any fairer is another question altogether. Alexander Pelling

Ampthill, Bedfordshire