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Court Suspends ‘Burkini’ Ban in French Town Court Overturns ‘Burkini’ Ban in French Town
(about 3 hours later)
PARIS — France’s highest administrative court on Friday suspended a town’s ban on so-called burkinis, the full-body swimwear used by some Muslim women that has become the focus of intense debates over women’s rights, assimilation and secularism. PARIS — France’s highest administrative court on Friday overturned a town’s ban on burkinis, the full-body swimwear used by some Muslim women, setting a precedent that challenges similar bans in at least 30 other municipalities, most of them on the French Riveria.
The Council of State, the top court in the French administrative justice system, ruled that the ban on bathing at the beach in the outfit, enacted by the town of Villeneuve-Loubet on Aug. 5, violated civil liberties, including freedom of movement and religious freedom. The burkini — and the decisions to ban wearing them on beaches — has become the focus of spirited global debates over women’s rights, assimilation and secularism.
At least 20 other municipalities, most of which are on the French Riviera, have imposed similar bans. Although the decision on Friday does not apply directly to them, it amounts to a warning that their prohibitions are likely to be similarly struck down if challenged in court. The largest such community is the city of Nice. In its ruling, the court, known as the Council of State, found that the ban in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet violated civil liberties, including freedom of movement and religious freedom, and that officials had failed to demonstrate that the swimwear posed a threat to public order.
Patrice Spinosi, a lawyer for the Human Rights League in Paris, one of the groups that had challenged the ban, called the ruling a “victory” that set a legal precedent, and he said his association would now ask mayors in other towns to withdraw their bans. The ruling also made clear that the bans in other municipalities could be similarly overturned, and the Socialist government now seemed eager to get past the issue.
“The council has ruled and has showed that mayors do not have the right to set limits on wearing religious signs in public spaces, it is contrary to the freedom of religion, which is a fundamental freedom,” Mr. Spinosi said. In a statement, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve suggested that it was time for the local officials to back down, saying it was now “up to each and every one to responsibly seek to ease tensions, which is the only way to avoid disturbances to public order and to bolster coexistence.”
Critics of the bans have said they unfairly targeted Muslims and stirred up fear in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in France and elsewhere in Europe. The bans recently provoked a backlash in France and abroad, after photographs spread online showing armed police officers enforcing them. Still, the court’s decision seemed unlikely to end a heated debate as France enters a presidential election season. The center-right former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who has announced his plans to run for president again, supports a national ban.
Villeneuve-Loubet, a seaside resort of about 14,000, is between Nice and Cannes, the town where the first ban was enacted, on July 28. Most of the prohibitions are temporary and run until the end of the holiday season. The restrictions in Villeneuve-Loubet end on Sept. 15. Although the ruling has only technically suspended the ban, a future hearing will be set to strike it down completely. While the decision does not apply directly to the many other French cities and towns that have banned the burkini, it amounts to a warning that their prohibitions are likely to be overturned if challenged. The largest such community is the city of Nice.
Marwan Muhammad, the head of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, another group that challenged the bans, praised the ruling, but he expressed concern that some communities might drag their feet. Only last week, Prime Minister Manuel Valls had likened the burkini to a form of “enslavement.” But the government has shown little appetite for national legislation, and it appeared eager on Friday to move past a controversy that has become an international embarrassment.
“Normally, mayors should remove their ordinances following this decision, except if they want to race against the clock and go to court” Mr. Muhammad said, noting that the ordinances are set to expire in the coming weeks, while the court process can drag on for longer. The United Nations and the White House seemed relieved by the ruling.
The ordinances in question target bathing attire that is not “appropriate,” that is not “respectful of good morals and of secularism,” and that does not respect “hygiene and security rules.” “Obviously we welcome the decision by the court,” Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s chief spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, who had expressed concern about the burkini ban, said at a news briefing, emphasizing “the need for people’s personal dignity to be respected.”
The wording makes no mention of a specific religion or type of clothing, but it is widely perceived to be aimed at Muslim women who are trying to dress modestly while at the beach. Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, said the United States did not want to “second-guess” France, but noted that President Obama “believes strongly in the freedom of religion.”
The mayors of the towns with such prohibitions have argued that burkinis pose a threat to public order after multiple terrorist attacks in France in the past months, including one in Nice on July 14 that killed 86 people. Critics of the bans have said they unfairly targeted Muslims in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in France and elsewhere in Europe. The bans provoked a backlash, particularly photographs spread online showing armed police officers confronting women wearing burkinis, or other clothing — like a veil, a tunic and leggings — covering most of the body.
But the Council of State said that there was no evidence that such threats existed in Villeneuve-Loubet, saying in its ruling that the “emotions and concerns that are the result of the terrorist attacks, most notably the one carried out in Nice last July 14, do not suffice to legally justify the ban that is being challenged.” Patrice Spinosi, a lawyer for the Human Rights League, one of the groups that had challenged the ban, said his association would now ask mayors in other towns to withdraw their bans.
The Council of State also said that rules mayors enacted had to be “adapted, necessary and proportionate” to maintain public order, while also respecting fundamental liberties. “The council has ruled and has showed that mayors do not have the right to set limits on wearing religious signs in public spaces,” he said, in the absence of a demonstrated threat to public order. “It is contrary to the freedom of religion, which is a fundamental freedom.”
Anti-discrimination and human rights groups challenged the restrictions in local courts, but the rules were upheld, leading the groups to appeal to the Council of State, which heard arguments from lawyers on both sides on Thursday. Villeneuve-Loubet, a seaside resort of about 14,000, adopted the ban on Aug. 5, and it was supposed to end on Sept. 15. Police officers in the town will no longer be able to issue fines for burkini-wearing, and women who received fines will be able to contest them.
Villeneuve-Loubet sits between Nice and Cannes, which enacted a burkini ban on July 28. Most of the prohibitions are temporary and run until the end of the holiday season.
The town’s mayor, Lionnel Luca, denounced the ruling. “Apparently, the terrorist attacks in Nice were not sufficiently traumatic,” he said sarcastically at a news conference on Friday afternoon, referring to the rampage by a truck driver who attacked a Bastille Day fireworks celebration on July 14, causing 86 deaths. “This decision will raise tensions and passions.”
Marwan Muhammad, the head of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, another group that challenged the bans, praised the ruling, but expressed concern that other communities might drag their feet on rescinding their bans.
“Normally, mayors should remove their ordinances following this decision, except if they want to race against the clock and go to court,” Mr. Muhammad said, noting that the ordinances are set to expire in the coming weeks, while the court process can drag on for longer. Several mayors have already told French media that they did not intend to remove their bans in light of the ruling.
The ordinances in question did not mention Islam or the burkinis explicitly — instead banned bathing attire that was not “appropriate,” was not “respectful of good morals and of secularism,” or did not respect “hygiene and security rules” — but the target of the laws was obvious.
The Council of State said the “emotions and concerns that are the result of the terrorist attacks, most notably the one carried out in Nice last July 14, do not suffice to legally justify the ban.”
Restrictions on liberty “must be justified by proven risks to public order,” the court said, finding that the town’s mayor had failed to meet that criterion.
Anti-discrimination and human rights groups had challenged the restrictions in local courts, but the rules were upheld, leading the groups to appeal to the Council of State, which heard arguments from lawyers for both sides on Thursday.
The bans have also fueled an intense political debate and split the French government, with Prime Minister Manuel Valls expressing support for them and several female ministers opposing the restrictions, even as they voiced distaste for the garments.The bans have also fueled an intense political debate and split the French government, with Prime Minister Manuel Valls expressing support for them and several female ministers opposing the restrictions, even as they voiced distaste for the garments.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who recently announced that he would run in the center-right presidential primaries this fall, said on Thursday at a political rally that the burkini should be banned on beaches and at swimming pools by a nationwide law. Several lawmakers in Mr. Sarkozy’s party have announced their intention to put forward legislation to that effect. Marine Le Pen, the head of the far-right National Front, said after the ruling that French lawmakers should expand a 2004 law that bans ostentatious religious symbols in schools to all public places, except for “religious personnel,” but she did not make clear how broad that exception should be.
“We cannot leave mayors faced this provocation alone,” said Mr. Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012 but lost his re-election bid to François Hollande, the current president. The showdown over the burkini was only the latest controversy over the principle of laïcité, or secularism, that has been a defining feature of French political life since the Revolution. Critics say the principle is increasingly used to justify measures that single out Muslims, rather than keeping government out of religion and vice versa, the original intent.
Mr. Muhammad, the head of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, said he feared that the ruling would not put an end to the debates in France about Islam. Jean-Pierre Mignard, a legal expert who is close to Mr. Hollande, predicted that the controversy would continue. “The fact that some elected officials are already contesting the Council of State’s decision shows that they have now entered an ideological showdown,” he said, while adding that if an anti-burkini law were put forward in Parliament, it would not likely pass muster with the country’s Constitutional Council.
Paul Cassia, a professor of public law at the University of Paris, said the decision on Friday “creates a precedent that applies to all the towns,” and “a strong presumption” that such bans are unlawful.
He said that Friday’s ruling showed that the principle of laïcité had been misapplied.
“It means neutrality for the state, not the individual,” Mr. Cassia said.
He added. “I was in Nice two days ago. There are women in the street with veils. It’s completely unreasonable to ban them from the beach, while they are free to walk around the city. It’s hysteria.”
Mr. Muhammad, the head of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, said he feared that in the current political climate, Muslims would continue to be targeted.
“Now that it is over with the beach, they are going to come back with the debate on long skirts or on halal meals,” he said.“Now that it is over with the beach, they are going to come back with the debate on long skirts or on halal meals,” he said.