UN Panel: France Violated Religious Rights in Banning Veil at Adult Education Center

The decision of the Human Rights Committee, taken since March, was communicated this week to the lawyer. It follows a complaint filed in 2016 by the plaintiff, a French national born in 1977 who had enrolled in 2010 in a vocational training program for adults (Greta). But she was then denied access to the Langevin Wallon high school where the training was to take place due to the ban on wearing religious symbols (veil) within a public educational institution.

"The restriction imposed on the author (of the complaint, editor’s note) prohibiting her from participating in her continuing education while wearing a headscarf constitutes a restriction infringing on her freedom of religion in violation [...] of the Covenant," the Committee stressed, noting that the plaintiff "provided testimony, not contested by the State party" according to which "other trainees were able to receive the training while wearing an Islamic veil [...] without this causing disturbances to public order or obstructing the proper functioning of the center".

And the Committee concluded: "There is a need to reconcile the freedom to manifest one’s religion, which the person concerned enjoys, and the requirements of preserving order and the proper functioning of the public school establishment concerned."