PARIS: France’s highest court on Wednesday upheld a ban on barristers wearing the hijab and other religious symbols in courtrooms in the north, a ruling that is the first of its kind and sets a precedent for the rest of the country.
The conspicuous display of religious symbols is an emotive subject in France and the court’s decision may stir a nationwide debate over so-called core Republican values of secularism and identity ahead of April’s presidential election.
The case was brought by Sarah Asmeta, a 30-year-old hijab-wearing French-Syrian lawyer, who challenged a rule set by the Bar Council of Lille that bans religious markers in its courtrooms on the grounds that it was discriminatory.
In its ruling, the Court of Cassation said the ban was “necessary and appropriate, on the one hand to preserve the independence of the lawyer and, on the other, to guarantee the right to a fair trial.”
Banning the wearing of religious symbols “does not constitute discrimination,” it added.
Asmeta told Reuters she was shocked and disappointed with the ruling.
“Why does covering my hair stop my client from the right to a free trial?” she told Reuters. “My clients are not children. If they choose me as their lawyer, with my veil, then it is their choice.”
There is no law that explicitly says Asmeta cannot wear her hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women, in the courtroom.
In the months after she took an oath and entered law as a trainee barrister, the Lille Bar Council passed its own internal rule banning any signs of political, philosophical and religious conviction to be worn with the gown in court.
Asmeta challenged the Lille Bar Council’s rule, calling it targeted and discriminatory. She lost the case in an appeals court in 2020 and pushed the matter up to the Court of Cassation.
Religious symbols and clothing are banned for public servants in France due to its principle of “laïcité,” or secularism — the separation of religion from the state.
French lawmakers and politicians have in recent years sought to extend curbs on wearing the hijab to cover, for example, mothers who accompany their children on school trips and football players.
As a presidential election in April approaches, right-wing candidates have focused on identity issues.
Asmeta said she was contemplating taking her fight to the European Court of Human Rights.
The case has provoked a heated debate within the legal community.
More than three dozen lawyers from Paris, where the Bar Council has imposed a similar ban, on Monday penned an open letter calling for a nationwide rule against the head covering in courtrooms.
“We, lawyers, do not want a communitarian and obscurantist judiciary,” they wrote in the French publication Marianne.
Slim Ben Achour, a lawyer specializing in discrimination, disagreed and said such bans were hypocritical.
“It is not possible that we, lawyers, the defenders of rights, or at least that is how we sell ourselves, block Muslim women [from practicing],” he told Reuters.
Top French court upholds ban on barristers wearing hijab in Lille courtrooms
https://arab.news/getf9
Top French court upholds ban on barristers wearing hijab in Lille courtrooms
- The case was brought by Sarah Asmeta, a 30-year-old hijab-wearing French-Syrian lawyer
- She challenged a rule set by the Bar Council of Lille that bans religious markers in courtrooms on grounds that it was discriminatory
Zelensky talks with allies en route to US as Russia pummels Ukraine
- Zelensky will meet Trump on Sunday, with focus on a new, 20-point plan that would freeze the war on its current front line
- In a conference call Saturday, the Ukrainian leader briefed EU, NATO and European leaders, who gave him their “full support”
OTTAWA, Canada: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky consulted with allies on Saturday and won renewed expressions of support ahead of a meeting with US President Donald Trump, hours after Russia pummelled Kyiv with drones and missiles in its latest attack on the capital.
During a stopover in Canada en route to Florida for the Trump meeting, the Ukrainian president spoke first with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Then, in a conference call, he briefed EU, NATO and European leaders, who gave him their “full support” according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a social media post they welcomed “a just and lasting peace that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Zelensky said the Russian onslaught showed Moscow had no intention of ending the invasion it launched in February 2022 and which has killed tens of thousands of people.
“This attack is again, Russia’s answer on our peace efforts. And this really showed that Putin doesn’t want peace, and we want peace,” Zelensky said before meeting the Canadian premier.
Carney said the latest Russian attack underscored the need to stand by Ukraine.
“We have the conditions... of a just and lasting peace, but that requires a willing Russia, and the barbarism that we saw overnight... shows just how important it is that we stand with Ukraine,” said Carney.
Russia has accused Ukraine and its European backers of trying to “torpedo” a previous US-brokered plan to stop the fighting.
Adding to pressure on the battlefield, Russia announced on Saturday it had captured two more towns in eastern Ukraine, Myrnograd and Guliaipole.
“If the authorities in Kyiv don’t want to settle this business peacefully, we’ll resolve all the problems before us by military means,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.
‘They do not want to end the war’
The overnight barrage of drones and missiles, which targeted Kyiv for about 10 hours, killed two people, wounded dozens and cut power and heating to more than a million of the region’s residents during freezing temperatures, Ukraine authorities said.
Zelensky said some 500 drones and 40 missiles had pounded the capital and its surrounding region.
“Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals (missiles) and Shaheds (drones) speak for them,” he said.
“They do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering,” he added.
Neighbouring Poland, a NATO member, scrambled jets and put air defenses on alert during the attack, its military said on social media.
‘Security guarantees should be strong’
Sunday’s meeting in Florida is to focus on a new, 20-point plan that would freeze the war on its current front line. It could require Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, allowing the creation of demilitarised buffer zones, according to details revealed by Zelensky this week.
The new plan, formulated with Ukraine’s input, is Kyiv’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions.
It is a marked departure from an initial 28-point proposal by Washington last month that adhered to many of Russia’s core demands.
Trump, speaking to news outlet Politico on Friday, said of Zelensky’s plan that “he doesn’t have anything until I approve it.” He added: “So we’ll see what he’s got.”
Part of the plan includes separate US-Ukraine bilateral agreements on security guarantees, reconstruction and the economy.
Zelensky said those were changing daily. “As for sensitive issues, we will discuss (the eastern region of) Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he added.
Zelensky said his meeting with the US leader was aimed at reducing unresolved issues to a minimum.
“Of course, today there are red lines for Ukraine and Ukrainian people. There are compromise proposals. All of these issues are very sensitive,” he said on X.
Meanwhile, Ukraine needed European and US support to acquire weapons and funds, both of which were insufficient, Zelensky said — “in particular for the production of weapons and, most importantly, drones.”
In negotiations, Ukraine’s “most important consideration — if we take certain steps — is that security guarantees should be strong and we should be protected,” he said.
Ukraine is working with the US on a roadmap for the country’s reconstruction, said Zelensky, which will require between $700 billion and $800 billion.
