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WHY THE FRENCH DON'T LIKE THE BURQA:1LAÏCITÉ, NATIONAL IDENTITY AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2012

Myriam Hunter-Henin
Myriam Hunter-Henin
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer in Law, University College London, [email protected].
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Abstract

This article examines the controversies over and implications of the 2010 French ban on the covering of the face. It carries out an internal critique of the new law and, in a broader European context, questions its compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights. It argues that the ban has strayed away from the confines of laïcité (the separation of State and religion in the public sphere) by encompassing activities and people who in no way emanate from the State. Far from being a flagship of a secularism—à la française—or a French way of life, the ban—it is argued—goes against entrenched French legal traditions and unduly conflates the concept of national identity at the cost of individual liberties, thus forgetting the true goal of secularism: the conciliation of different beliefs and values. Assuming that the defence of secularism is nevertheless (for reasons we will explore) upheld by the European Court of Human Rights as a legitimate aim pursued by the law, the French ban, it is argued, is likely to fall foul of European requirements for lack of proportionality.

Type
Articles
Information
International & Comparative Law Quarterly , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 613 - 639
Copyright
Copyright © British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2012

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References

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71 But the 2004 prohibition applies to pupils over 18 who are still in secondary schools whether before or after Baccalauréat (A levels). This uniform application of the 2004 ban throughout state schools suggests that the prohibition of religious symbols is less about protecting dignity than it is about enforcing laïcité throughout the public school sector (see Part I).

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86 Admittedly, one does so to prohibit for example the display of nudity in public spaces but I will argue that the ban on the burqa goes much further. See Part III.

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100 See n 14.

101 CE 3 May 2000 avis Mlle Marteaux (n 51).

102 Décret no 2009-724 of 19 June 2009.

103 For a full list see the Conseil d'Etat's Report (n 23).

104 The Conseil constitutionnel made a merely symbolic reference to art 4 which states that ‘Liberty is the right to do everything that does not cause harm to others. Thus, each and every human being enjoys natural liberties that know of no other bounds but the very same rights and liberties enjoyed by other members of society. These boundaries must be determined by the legislator.’ (author's translation)

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108 CE 27 June 2008 Mme Machbour, no 286798.

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111 Integration models of each country may thus not be so far apart as one sometimes thinks. But the emphasis on ‘common values’ may be more characteristic of the French Republican tradition, see Bowen (n 10) 11.

112 T Asad, ‘Trying to Understand French Secularism’ in H de Vries and LE Sullivan (eds) Political Theologies: Public Religions in a Post-Secular World (Fordham University Press 2006) 495.

113 See p 1.

114 Often described as a true multicultural system, Britain actually also seeks at times a superseding unity: see for example debates on Britishness and British values, S Lee, , ‘Gordon Brown and the “British Way”’ (2006) 77 The Political Quarterly 369–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

115 With the exception of places of worship open to the public, see Conseil Constitutionnel 7 October 2010, considérant 5, (n 18).

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118 Conseil d'Etat Report (n 23) 32.

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122 Indeed, the Cour de cassation has shown in the past that it is audacious enough to challenge new legislative moves when other supreme French national courts have behaved with greater reverence towards Parliament. See M Hunter-Henin, ‘Constitutional Developments and Human Rights in France: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back’ (2011) 60 ICLQ 1–22.

123 See ECHR 17 February 2005 KA and AD v Belgium, no 42758/98 (but in the context of practices carried out in private).

124 ECHR Sahin v Turkey, App no 44774/98 [2004] 299 paras 97–8.

125 See n 135.

126 ECHR 4 December 2008 Kervanci v France, no 31645/04 and Dogru v France, no 27058/05 para 62.

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129 See ECHR 23 February 2010 Ahmet Arslan and Others v Turkey, 41135/98, D.2010, 682–4, J-P Marguénaud.

130 See ECHR 26 September 1995 Vogt v Germany, 1996-IV, no 14, 21 EHRR 205; ECHR 20 May 1999 Rekvéni v Hungary, 25390/94.

131 See ECHR 15 February 2001 Dahlab v Switerland, 42393/98; ECHR 24 January 2006 Kurtulmuş v Turkey, 65500/01.

132 See (n 137).

133 Depending of course on the circumstances of the case put forward to Strasbourg as the ECtHR does not examine Acts in abstracto but in relation to their application to a particular case.

134 ECHR Refah Partisi v Turkey, no 41340/98, 41343/88 and 41344/98 [2003] 37 EHRR 1.

135 On the advice of the Conseil d'Etat. See Report, (n 23) 21.

136 Art 2.2 of the 2010 law provides that the ban will not apply to instances where the covering of the face is prescribed by other legislative or regulatory requirements; is mandated by health or professional reasons; or occurs in the context of sporting, artistic or traditional events.

137 Conseil constitutionnel, (n 18), considérant 5.

138 This vision inspired the French parliamentary resolution adopted on 11 May 2010 (Ass Nat XIII législature, TA no 459; JCP 2010, act 551, comments by Anne Levade) in which the full veil is described as a radical practice that is contrary to the values of the French Republic.

139 See for example, ECHR 26 October 2000 Hasan and Chaush v Bulgaria, para. 78.

140 On these Quranic origins, Barlas, A, ‘Believing Women’ in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an (University of Texas Press 2002) 53Google Scholar.

141 A Levade (n 105) 756.

142 ibid.

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144 Save for the private sphere where the burqa however won't be felt needed.

145 See Part IV.