CNA Staff, Dec 15, 2020 / 16:21 pm
A ban on headscarves for elementary school students was discriminatory and unconstitutional because it singled out Muslim girls' headscarves, the Austrian Constitutional Court has ruled.
The court said the law banning headscarves for girls under 10 years old "contravened the principle of equality in relation to freedom of religion, belief and conscience."
Drafters tried to keep the text of the law neutral, banning "ideologically or religiously influenced clothing which is associated with the covering of the head."
Judge Christoph Grabenwarter, however, said additional material from the government made it clear that the law could only be understood as targeting Muslim head coverings. The law violated the principle of equality and the state's obligation to be religiously neutral because it singled out Muslim students.