European Court of Human Rights Rules That France's Burqa Ban Does Not Breach Human Rights Law Tuesday July 01,22014

An attempt by a British legal team to reverse France's burka ban was today Tuesday July 01,22014 rejected by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,France

In a test case which will have widespread implications in other countries, judges said that the measure aimed at stopping women covering their faces in public was entirely justified.

They said that the right of ordinary people to 'live together' was a 'legitimate objective', and that Muslim women wearing face coverings threatened it. 
The lawyers for an anonymous 24-year-old university graduate told the Strasbourg-based court that the ban was 'degrading' and a 'breach of religious freedom'.
The complainant, identified only by her initials SAS, is a French citizen but has family in Birmingham.
Her British lawyer Tony Muman told the court at an earlier hearing that she is a 'perfect French citizen with a university education. She speaks of her country with passion. She is a patriot'
SAS in turn said in a written statement that being forced to take off her veil in public constituted 'degrading treatment'

Note

France'slower house of Parliament voted overwhelmingly(by 335 votes to 1 in the National Assembly, with mostly abstentions from the main opposition Socialist Party, which was divided over how to respond to the popular bill and thesole opposing vote was cast by a former member of the governing party, Daniel Garrigue) in July 2010 to approve a ban on the wearing of veils that cover the face in public places

France's parliament passed a burka ban in 2010, leading to protests from Islamic groups who said it was discriminatory

The French senate passed the law in September 2010, before sending it to the constitutional court

France's highest court has approved a law banning full-facial veils in public in Oct 2010 - with the exception of mosques - eliminating the last hurdle for the ban

What the law means
The ban prohibits anyone from covering their face in public, from government buildings to streets, markets and private business and entertainment venues.
The opposition Socialist party had supported a ban in government buildings only, but had chosen not to challenge the legislation proposed by the ruling UMP party.
In six months time, women wearing a facial veil will face arrest and a fine of $195 or "citizenship lessons".
A man who forces a woman to wear a burqa or niqab will be fined $42,000 and serve up to a year in prison.  
The law, which came into force in 2011, means women who wear full-face veils in public can be fined around £130
Muslims take to the streets of Paris in protest at new French law banning the wearing of niqabs and burqas in public.

 

Under the new law wef April 2011,any Muslim woman wearing a face veil is now banned from all public places in France, including when walking down the street, taking a train, going to hospital or collecting her children from school. Women in niqabs will be effectively under house arrest, allowed only inside a place of worship or a private car.
Women in face veils risk a €150 (£132) fine or citizenship lessons. Police cannot forcibly remove face coverings in the street but can order women to a police station to check their identity.

Burqa-clad women

 

The law is aimed at wearers of the burqa — a full-body covering with a mesh screen for the eyes) — and niqab — a veil that covers the face with just a slit for the eyes

Women caught wearing the garment can be fined 150 euros (203 dollars) or required to take citizenship classes

There have been arrests and convictions in France, but attempts to enforce the ban have also sparked disturbances, including a riot in the Paris suburb of Trappes last year.