A sideways answer from the President of the German Constitutional Court, Andreas Vosskuhle, from the current episode (in English) of Deutsche Welle’s People and Politics
Speaking of the robes particular to the Constitutional Court, starting at 1:09:
It takes a while [to put it on] and you feel different when you’re wearing it.
You feel simply like an office holder sitting there, not like Andreas Vosskuhle but as the chairman of the panel and that makes it easier to establish a distance from your own preferences and expectations.
There’s something to be said about clergy, too, distinguishing their private lives and the official roles.
An interesting episode, with a review of the success of the Berlin Pirate Party and the fiftieth anniversary of the first Turkish “guest workers.”
September 23, 2011 episode of People and Politics
The particular clip can also be see here on YouTube.
Leave it to a German to understand the improtance of a uniform.