Burkini banFrench court suspends Burkini ban, declaring the prohibition “clearly illegal”

Published 26 August 2016

France’s highest administrative court has earlier today (Friday) ruled that Burkini bans now enforced on the country’s beaches are illegal and a violation of fundamental liberties. Burkinis are swimsuits covering the hair and body, which some Muslim women in France began to wear earlier this summer, arguing the Burkini allows them to go the beach while preserving their modesty. Supporters of the ban argue that the. The spread of the Burkini bans from Nice, where it was launched, to many beach communities around the country, has sparked an intense debate about France’s secular values, women’s rights, and religious freedom.

France’s highest administrative court has earlier today (Friday) ruled that Burkini bans now enforced on the country’s beaches are illegal and a violation of fundamental liberties.

Le Monde reports that the Conseil d’Etat addressed itself specifically to laws passed by the town council of Villeneuve-Loubet, but the verdict sets a legal precedent which is likely to set policy for the entire country.

The three senior judges said in the ruling that the ban “has dealt a serious and clearly illegal blow to fundamental liberties such as the freedom of movement, freedom of conscience and personal liberty.” 

They wrote that they could not find any evidence to support the argument by supporters of the prohibition that a risk to public order was being caused by “the outfits worn by some people to go swimming.”

A tribunal in the coastal town of Villeneuve-Loubet had two weeks ago ruled a Burkini ban on Villeneuve-Loubet beaches was “necessary, appropriate, and proportionate” to prevent public disorder.

That earlier ruling was appealed by the Human Rights League (LDH) and Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), and the appeal took the case to the State Council.

Nouvele Observateur reports that at least thirty cities, vacation resorts, and small beach communities have implemented bans on modest swimwear this summer, and that many more municipalities are considering similar moves.

Legal experts note that none of the vaguely worded laws specifically refers to “Burkinis” – a term describing swimsuits covering the hair and body, which some Muslim women in France began to wear earlier this summer, arguing it allows them to go the beach while preserving their modesty — but officials in the different locations where bans have been implemented, have made it clear that the target of the bans is Muslim clothing, even if the word “Burkini” is not mentioned.

The spread of the Burkini bans from Nice, where it was launched, to many beach communities around the country, has sparked an intense debate about France’s secular values, women’s rights, and religious freedom.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who earlier this week has launched his campaign for the nomination of the conservative e party for the 2017 presidential race, said he would work for a nationwide Burkini ban if elected. 

Critics of the ban say the governing women clothing is similar to the approach taken by Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan under the Taliban – even if in France the ban is implemented in the name of secularism, while in some Muslim countries, regulating women clothing is done in the name of religion.

Other critics say that the ban amounts to a “collective punishment” of Muslims in the wake of terrorist attacks and growing worries about refugees.

NouvelObsnotes that opinion polls show that 64 percent of French people are in favor of the Burkini bans, while 30 percent described themselves as “indifferent” and only 6 percent of respondents were opposed.

Manuel Valls, the socialist prime minister, said the Burkini represented the “enslavement of women” and were not compatible with French values – while Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, criticized the “hysteria” of the ban supporters.

Amnesty International welcomed the State Council’s ruling.

John Dalhuisen, the group’s Europe director, said: “French authorities must now drop the pretense that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women.

“These bans do nothing to increase public safety but do a lot to promote public humiliation.”