French Court to Rule on Grenoble’s Controversial Burkini Ban Appeal

Seized by Laurent Prévost, prefect of Isère, via a "laïcité" referral, a new procedure, included in the law strengthening respect for the principles of the Republic, "which allows the prefect to request the suspension of an act of a local authority deemed contrary to the principle of secularism", the administrative court had ordered on May 25 the suspension of the municipality’s decision regarding the use of burkini-type swimsuits in public swimming pools. According to the judges, Article 10 of the new regulations of the Grenoble swimming pools would allow users to derogate "from the general rule of obligation to wear close-fitting suits to allow certain users to free themselves from this rule for religious purposes", and "the authors of the disputed deliberation [had] seriously undermined the principle of neutrality of the public service".

Dissatisfied, the green mayor of Grenoble Eric Piolle had appealed the suspension before the Council of State. On Tuesday, the Sages examined the city’s appeal. At the end of the two-hour hearing, the president indicated that the order would be rendered "as soon as possible", reports Place Gre’Net. A statement that lacks details. Present at the hearing alongside in particular the mayor of the city and representatives of the League of Human Rights (LDH), Marion Augier, lawyer of the Citizen Alliance - the association that has been campaigning since 2019 for the authorization of the wearing of the burkini - and other lawyers present at the hearing, bet on a rendering of the judgment after the second round of the legislative elections scheduled for June 19. "I can hardly see the Council of State handing down a decision during the legislative election campaign," she predicts.