On Tuesday, France’s Council of State upheld a lower court’s decision to ban the burkini in Grenoble, thereby effectively overturning the City Council’s decision to vote in favour of full-body swimwear, saying, “The new rules of procedure for the municipal swimming pools of Grenoble affect (...) the proper functioning of the public service, and undermines the equal treatment of users, so that the neutrality of public service is compromised.”
The top administrative court, which serves as the legal adviser of the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, argued that the Grenoble City Council’s decision to allow burkinis was “only to satisfy a demand of a religious nature” and allowed a few swimmers to flout “hygiene and security rules.”
Court ejected appeal filed last month by the city of Grenoble. Grenoble's plan to allow full-body burkinis sparked anger among conservative & far-right groups. 2)
— Rozita Riazati (@RozitaRiazati) June 21, 2022
A burkini, which is a full-body swimsuit that leaves the face, hands, and feet exposed, is usually worn by Muslim women to protect their modesty and to uphold their religion. Though it is banned in most public pools in French cities, it is allowed on public beaches. In fact, several local authorities tried to bar the burkini on beaches in 2016, citing a violation of the country’s strict distinction between religion and state.
On May 16, Grenoble’s Green Party mayor, Eric Piolle, changed the swimming pool rules by allowing all types of swimsuits and also for women to swim topless, instead of just the traditional swimming costumes for women and trunks for men. “All we want is for women and men to be able to dress how they want,” Piolle had said then. However, it led to a nationwide controversy, prompting a lower court to block the decision, stressing that people should be able to “free themselves from this rule for religious purposes.”
It also stated that wearing the burkini goes against France’s principle of “secularism,” which demands that religious affiliation should be a private affair and not be practised in public. In response, Grenoble’s city council went to the country’s top administrative court, which upheld the prefect’s ruling. The Council of State ruled that Piolle’s stated objective of allowing all women to wear whatever they want was a pretext to appease Muslims.
Though mostly worn by Muslim women it’s not exclusively done so - @Nigella_Lawson famously wore one a few years back - and upon the announcement of the initial ban #grenoble attempted to overturn in its city there were protests in cities across Europe including the UK #France
— Yasmin Khatun Dewan (@Yasm1nK) June 21, 2022
After the Council of State’s judgment was published, the city council released a statement stating, “The municipality regrets that the Conseil d'Etat attributes to it intentions it does not have.” It added that the changes meant permitting equal access to public services for all citizens. However, critics have claimed that the measure violates the country’s core secular value, which dictates that religion cannot be used to make decisions or policies.
Last year, President Emmanuel Macron’s government adopted an anti-separatism law to crack down on online hate speech and foreign funding of religious groups to target religious radicalism and separatism in the country. It encouraged religious institutions to officially declare themselves as places of worship. The law also grants local authorities the power to shut down religious institutions “in which the remarks that are made, the ideas or theories that are disseminated or the activities that take place: cause discrimination, hatred or violence.”
Since adopting the law, French authorities have closed down dozens of mosques. There are a total of 2,620 Muslim places of worship across the country. Of these, 99 mosques were suspected of radicalism and being controlled by authorities.
Though the law does not mention Islam or Muslims in its text, it was introduced right after Macron vowed to act against Islamic separatism and said that he believed Islam to be a “religion in crisis,” indicating that it was specifically introduced to target radicalism amongst Muslims in France.
Six years ago France’s top court overturned burkini bans on beaches as ‘unconstitutional’. Today it blocked Grenoble’s bid to allow burkinis in public swimming pools. Govt has hailed the decision as a victory for its law against ‘Islamist separatism’ passed last year. https://t.co/NndNrNtS0I
— David Chazan (@davidchazan) June 21, 2022
Nevertheless, in April, Macron lambasted Marine Le Pen, the Far-right presidential candidate contesting against him, for wanting to introduce a ban on the Islamic headscarf or hijab, warning her that it may lead to a “civil war” in the country. “With me, there will be no ban on headscarves, yarmulkes and religious signs,” he said during a televised debate.
France, which has the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5.7 million, also introduced a ban on the full-face niqab and burka in all public spaces including public transport and parks, streets and administrative buildings, in 2010.
Muslim rights organisations in France argue that these measures discriminate against Muslim women. In fact, the United Nations (UN) has urged France to revoke the burkini bans, which began in 2016, saying they “fuel religious intolerance and the stigmatisation of Muslims.”
A concrete use of France's 'Separatism Law'
— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) June 21, 2022
The highest administrative court has upheld a ban on the #burkini in public swimming pools rejecting what it called "selective exceptions to the rules to satisfy religious demands" that undermine equal treatment https://t.co/TNlwzcmU9A
Meanwhile, the top court’s decision was welcomed by Interior Minister and a religious neutrality advocate Gérald Darmanin, who said that the verdict was “a victory for the law of separatism, for secularism and beyond, for the whole Republic.”
Similarly, Republican MP Eric Ciotti remarked that the burkini ban should become law now. This has also been seconded by Le Pen, who has said she would like to introduce a law banning the burkini in municipal pools. Le Pen has also criticised the burkini as “clothing of Islamist propaganda.”