Judges have been told to stop untrained “emotional support” animals being brought into courtrooms, after reports of hearings being disrupted by growling and barking.
Courts can allow people appearing in court to have an animal with them if it will help them to cope with the legal proceedings.
But concerns are growing that “untrained” animals are being brought in, with reports of dogs jumping at or attacking witnesses and other parties being affected due to allergies and animal phobias.
New guidelines are now reportedly being drawn up, to warn judges that animals which are “little more than family pets” are being brought to court, while some people are giving no warning before turning up with cats and lapdogs.
A Judicial College alert to court officials, seen by The Telegraph, warns: “Increasingly, parties have been trying to bring emotional support animals (ESAs) into court and tribunal hearings in much the same way as a disabled person would bring in a highly trained assistance dog.
“Assistance animals, such as guide dogs, hearing and medical alert dogs, are covered by equality legislation, which means courts must allow them into proceedings.
“ESAs, however, are not regulated, have not necessarily undergone any training nor serve a specific function, and in some instances may be little more than family pets; there have been examples of people bringing cats and lapdogs into courts and tribunals, without making any advance requests.”
The Equal Treatment Bench Book – a key guide for judges on the running of courts to avoid discrimination, is currently silent on the role of emotional support animals in hearings.
It is understood the book is now set to be updated with a set of guidelines.
The current version does include a guideline on guide dogs: “If a guide dog is accompanying the person who is blind, or person with visual impairments, it must be allowed to enter the hearing room and have access to water and be allowed to have a short comfort break at regular intervals.”
Clare Jane Hockney, a district judge, wrote recently: “There is concern that allowing court users to bring in potentially untrained pets, claiming them as ESAs, could cause disruptions that significantly impact on the fairness of the hearing and the rights of others.
Read More
“For example, an uncontrolled dog barking or growling throughout the hearing, or jumping at other witnesses, particularly where a person is scared of animals or has an allergy to dog hair.
“There is anecdotal evidence of this happening in tribunals. Untrained pets could further particularly interfere with genuine assistance dogs by barking, jumping at or even attacking them. There is of course no requirement to admit a regular pet.”