The Conseil d’Etat upheld the ban on abayas in schools, dismissing appeals from several associations. They ruled that wearing such outfits could signify a public display of religious identity, violating the 2004 law against ostentatious religious symbols in educational settings. The court deemed the Minister of Education’s memo, issued on August 31, 2023, lawful, aligning with prior decisions that endorsed the prohibition based on behavioral patterns associated with these garments.
On Friday, September 27, the Conseil d’Etat upheld the prohibition against wearing the abaya in educational institutions, dismissing the appeals from associations that had previously lost their cases in summary proceedings a year earlier. Organizations such as La Voix lycéenne, Le Poing levé, Action Droits des Musulmans (ADM), and the SUD éducation union ‘have not provided sufficient grounds to challenge the memorandum’ issued on August 31, 2023. This memorandum, from the Minister of Education, explicitly bans the wearing of abaya or qami-style garments in schools, according to the court’s decision announced on Friday (new window).
The Conseil d’Etat stated that ‘considering the behavior of students donning these garments, perceived through a lens of religious affirmation’, such attire ‘may be interpreted as a visible expression of religious identity, which is prohibited under the law of March 15, 2004’. The court concluded that ‘the memorandum from the Minister of National Education adheres to legal standards’.
The nation’s top administrative court pointed to two decisions made in September 2023, which validated the ban on this long and modest dress code in schools during earlier proceedings. The court noted that ‘the use of these garments aligns with a narrative of religious affirmation. Conversations between schools and affected students have indicated that this practice is often accompanied by clichéd arguments, influenced by social media, designed to navigate around established legal prohibitions’, the Conseil d’Etat further explained.