The tone of the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday was tense as Justice Morris Fish asked lawyer David Butt to name one lawyer who'd willingly cross-examine a veiled witness.

Butt replied "some blind lawyers that I know" which was met with an impatient "Well, how about seeing lawyers -- your response quite explicitly and dramatically answers the question." The question before the Court was whether a witness testifying while wearing the niqab -- a veil which covers the face with only the eyes showing -- would undermine the fairness of a trial.

The hearing, in which principles protected equally under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came in direct conflict with one another, lasted nearly seven hours in the nation's highest courtroom.