A French court has overturned a local “burkini” ban, saying the attempt to stop people wearing full-body swimsuits on beaches was a clear infringement of their fundamental rights.
The decision by the Conseil d’État, France’s highest administrative court, sets a precedent and will result in similar bans being lifted or ruled illegal in about 30 coastal towns. The outcome, consistent with recent decisions from the court, takes some of the heat out of a controversy that caused global consternation and exposed the depth of political divisions over Islam and secularism in France.
In a case taken by two human rights groups, the three-judge court in Paris overruled a “burkini” ban in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet. It concluded that the ban had “seriously infringed, in a manner that was manifestly illegal, fundamental liberties such as the freedom to come and go, religious freedom and individual freedom.”
It also rejected the “public order” justification put forward by the local mayor, saying the swimwear posed no threat to public order in the town.
The original decree in Villeneuve-Loubet forbade swimmers from wearing clothes that showed a religious affiliation. Similar orders were introduced in at least 30 other seaside towns – most of them in the southeast, a stronghold of the populist right.
The controversy had opened a rift in François Hollande’s socialist government, where prime minister Manuel Valls was broadly supportive of the bans but at least two senior ministers strongly opposed them. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy had also defended the bans, but the government had avoided taking a clear position in advance of the court hearing this week.
The Great Mosque of Lyon said the Paris court’s decision should make Muslims feel “proud of France”, while the French Council of Muslims welcomed it as “a victory for law and for wisdom”.
‘Slap for PM’
The council’s secretary general, Abdallah Zekri, said of the ruling: “This is a slap for the prime minister and a kick up the backside for Sarkozy.”
With a presidential election due next year, the political cleavage reopened by the “burkini” debate will continue to dominate debate in France.
Mr Sarkozy, who hopes to contest the 2017 election, responded to the court’s decision by calling on parliament to introduce a national “burkini” ban. The current government, which has a majority in parliament, has already ruled that out, so any change would require a shift in the political balance of power.
While the Socialist Party welcomed the court’s ruling, saying it hoped it would calm tensions, the mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, Lionnel Luca of Mr Sarkozy’s Les Républicains party, said it would make things worse.
“We need to decide if we want a smiley, friendly version of sharia on our beaches or if we want the rules of the [French] republic to be implemented,” he said.
In its ruling, the Conseil d’État noted that a local mayor had to maintain peace and good order while respecting the civil liberties safeguarded by French law.
“In Villeneuve-Loubet, there is no evidence that safeguarding peace and good order on the beaches had been jeopardised because some swimmers were wearing certain types of clothes.
“Without such evidence, the mayor couldn’t decide that such persons would not have access to the beaches,” the court found.
