Qatar Gives Its Lawyers a Bisht-Inspired Robe. Why Do Lawyers Wear Robes at All?
Qatar’s Ministry of Justice has unveiled a single professional uniform for every lawyer in the country, with gold embroidery borrowed from the bisht and sleeve marks that show which court a lawyer may plead before. It looks like a question of fashion. It is really a question about what a lawyer is.
The Short Answer
In November 2026 Qatar’s Ministry of Justice unveiled a unified uniform for all lawyers: a black robe with gold, bisht-inspired embroidery, and sleeve markings showing rank, from trainee to the Court of Cassation. The ministry says it aims to standardise professional dress across the judicial system and strengthen national legal identity; it has not yet published the date from which wearing it becomes mandatory.
The colour of a sleeve can now tell a judge in Doha who is standing before him. Under a uniform unveiled by Qatar’s Ministry of Justice in early November, a trainee lawyer’s black robe carries no mark at all. One embroidered mark means the lawyer may plead before the Courts of First Instance; two, before the Court of Appeal; three, before the Court of Cassation. The gold embroidery on the sleeves is borrowed from the bisht, the cloak Gulf men wear on the most formal occasions.
The minister of justice, Ibrahim bin Ali Al Mohannadi, launched the uniform himself. The official in charge of the profession put its purpose in one sentence that deserves more attention than the embroidery.
Why is Qatar introducing a uniform for lawyers?
The ministry says it wants to standardise professional dress across the judicial system and strengthen the national identity of the legal profession. Abdul Karim Hamoud Al Ruwaili, director of the Legal Profession Department, told the Qatar Tribune that the step is “not merely a formality, but carries professional and symbolic significance”. The uniform applies to all lawyers, men and women; the men’s version echoes the bisht, and the women’s is hand-embroidered. The ministry has not yet published the date from which it becomes compulsory or what follows if a lawyer does not wear it.
| Sleeve marking | Who wears it |
|---|---|
| None | Trainee lawyers |
| One | Lawyers before the Courts of First Instance |
| Two | Lawyers before the Court of Appeal |
| Three | Lawyers before the Court of Cassation |
Source: GDN Online, Qatar Tribune, November 2026.
A robe that settles an old argument
The uniform closes a dispute that has run for more than a decade. In 2015 Qatar’s bar admissions committee ruled that all lawyers, Qatari and expatriate, should follow a single court dress code, after complaints that some foreign lawyers were dressing like Qataris, The Peninsula reported at the time. Transparent robes were banned. The new uniform goes further: one design for everyone, with rank shown by embroidery rather than by nationality.
It also arrives at the end of a year of reform. Law No. 19 of 2025, published in September 2025, rewrote parts of Qatar’s advocacy law, lifting the absolute ban on lawyers advertising and raising the cap on success fees agreed with clients from 10 to 25 percent, according to an analysis on Mondaq. A profession that may now advertise is also being asked to look like one institution.
Why lawyers wear robes at all
Court dress is older than most of the law it serves. In England and Wales, barristers still wear wigs and gowns in criminal courts, although wigs were dropped in civil and family cases in 2008. French avocats plead in a black robe with a white rabat at the throat. American lawyers wear none at all. The argument for the robe has always been the same: the person speaking is not there as themselves, but as an officer of the court, and the client before the judge should not be judged by the cut of a suit.
Qatar’s version adds something the European robes do not: rank written on the sleeve. A judge, a client and an opponent can see at a glance how far a lawyer’s licence reaches. Supporters will see transparency; critics may see hierarchy made visible.
The same question in Belgrade
The question of what makes a profession visible is not only a Gulf one. In June 2026 the newly elected Assembly of the Bar Association of Serbia set up thirteen standing commissions, among them one for digitalisation, artificial intelligence and new technologies, and announced a public competition for the lyrics and music of an anthem for the Serbian bar. We explored what those decisions say about the profession in our special edition Advokatologija. A robe in Doha and an anthem in Belgrade answer the same need: a profession under pressure from technology and markets, reminding the public, and itself, that it is more than a service.
For more on how law works in the Gulf under the pressures of war, read Can a country own a strait?
Frequently asked questions
What does Qatar’s new lawyers’ uniform look like?
A black robe with gold embroidery inspired by the bisht, with sleeve markings showing the lawyer’s rank: none for trainees, one to three marks for the First Instance, Appeal and Cassation courts.
Is the uniform mandatory?
The ministry says it will standardise professional dress across the judicial system, but it has not yet published an effective date or sanctions.
Does it apply to foreign lawyers in Qatar?
It applies to lawyers of all categories, and Qatar has required a single court dress code for Qatari and expatriate lawyers since 2015.
Why do lawyers wear robes?
To mark the lawyer as an officer of the court rather than a private individual, and to keep appearance from influencing how a case is seen. Practice varies: England and France keep robes; the United States does not.
What changed in Qatar’s advocacy law in 2025?
Law No. 19 of 2025 lifted the absolute ban on lawyer advertising and raised the permitted success fee from 10 to 25 percent, among other changes.
Sources
- Qatar Tribune, Justice ministry launches new uniform for lawyers with Qatari heritage identity (4 November 2026)
- GDN Online, Qatar introduces new uniform for lawyers (5 November 2026)
- Qatar Tribune, Qatar launches heritage-inspired professional uniform for lawyers
- The Peninsula, Bar panel stipulates dress code for Qatari, expatriate lawyers (2015)
- Mondaq, Commentary on the amendments to the Advocacy Law, Law No. 19 of 2025
