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Schoolgirl with a headscarf (archive image)
Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst / picture alliance / dpa
The headscarf ban in primary schools in Austria has been lifted by the state's constitutional court.
The law violates the principle of equality and is therefore unconstitutional, the judges ruled on Friday.
It selects a certain religion, Islam, without further justification, which contradicts the requirement of the state's religious and ideological neutrality.
The headscarf ban has been in effect since autumn 2019 after the extremely controversial law was passed by the right-wing conservative ÖVP-FPÖ government in early summer.
It is true that the prohibition - "the wearing of ideologically or religiously influenced clothing with which the head is concealed" - does not explicitly refer to wearing an Islamic headscarf.
In the materials on the law, however, the intention of the legislature is expressed that the wearing of an Islamic headscarf should be specifically prohibited, said the President of the Constitutional Court, Christoph Grabenwarter, on Friday.
»It carries the risk of making it difficult for Muslim girls to access education or of marginalizing them from society.«
Two children and their parents had sued who saw it as an interference with religious freedom and religious upbringing.
They also found that the principle of equality was violated because the Jewish kippah or the patka of the Sikhs, unlike the Muslim hijab, are not prohibited.
The debate is only about the headscarf - Muslim veils such as the burqa or nikab have been subject to a ban on face covering since 2017.
The Islamic Faith Community in Austria (IGGÖ) welcomed the verdict.
This should not defend the premature wearing of a headscarf for children or parental compulsion to do so, emphasized IGGÖ President Ümit Vural.
"We neither approve of a derogatory attitude towards women who decide against the headscarf out of personal conviction, nor can we agree to the restriction of religious freedom of those Muslim women who understand the headscarf as an integral part of their practiced faith."
Education Minister Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP) announced that he would deal with the arguments of the court.
"I regret that girls will not have the opportunity to make their way through the education system freely," said the minister.
Different regulations in German federal states
The problem has also occupied German courts again and again.
The Federal Constitutional Court had overturned a blanket headscarf ban in schools three years ago and emphasized the importance of religious freedom.
Since then, every federal state has developed different regulations on how to deal with Muslim teachers in schools who wear headscarves.
Most recently, in August this year, the Federal Labor Court rejected the blanket headscarf ban for female teachers that was in force in Berlin.
A Muslim applicant who was not hired was discriminated against because of her religion.
She was awarded compensation.
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oka / AFP / dpa