Burkini is a swimsuit for women, designed in Australia by Aheda Zanetti. The design is intended to accord with Islamic traditions of modest dress. The suit covers the whole body except the face, the hands and the feet, whilst being light enough to enable swimming. It resembles a full-length wetsuit with a built-in hood, but is somewhat looser and made of swimsuit material instead of neoprene.
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France’s highest administrative court has suspended a ban on full-body “burkini” swimsuits that was imposed in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet. It said the ban seriously and illegally breached fundamental freedom of beliefs and individual freedom.
The ruling could set a precedent for up to 30 other towns that have imposed the ban. The court will make a final decision on the legality of the bans later.
A lawyer said that people who had been fined could claim their money back. The burkini ban has ignited fierce debate in France and worldwide.
The order of Villeneuve-Loubet, thought to fight against the “burkini” was actually much broader. It prohibited the beach access to “any person that does not have a dress, respectful of morality and the principle of secularism, and respect the rules of hygiene and safety adapted swimming maritime public domain”.
The State Council said in his judgment that the text was a violation “serious and manifestly illegal” three fundamental freedoms: the freedom to come and go, freedom of conscience and personal freedom. In the absence of proven risks to public order or bathing security issues, hygiene or even decency, the judges ruled that there were insufficient grounds to justify the prohibition. Not even the “context” post-bombings.
The State Council, seized by the League of Human Rights (LDH) and the Committee against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), spoke, Friday, August 26, against the decree “anti-Burkini” Villeneuve-Loubet (Alpes-Maritimes).
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The order of the Nice Administrative Court which had confirmed on August 22, and is offset by the highest French administrative court. The execution of the order is suspended. In this county, wear religious dress at the beach is no longer prohibited.
The order of the State Council in particular that “the disputed decree (…) carried a serious and manifestly illegal fundamental freedoms such as freedom to come and go, freedom of conscience and personal freedom”