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New law allows headscarves to be banned for police officers

2021-05-08T23:50:16.500Z


The Federal Council has approved a law that regulates the showing of right-wing extremist tattoos for civil servants. But integration officers criticize that in future kippahs and headscarves could also be banned for public servants.


Enlarge image

Policewoman and policeman in Düsseldorf

Photo: Michael Gstettenbauer / imago images

The Federal Council has passed a law that defines new clothing regulations for police officers. In future, the visible wearing of right-wing extremist tattoos or symbols will be prohibited. However, the new rules also allow the wearing of headscarves, the kippah or Christian crosses to be prohibited. A week ago the "law regulating the appearance of civil servants" was passed in the Bundestag with the votes of the CDU / CSU, SPD and the AfD - now the federal states have also agreed.

The law defines that the wearing of religious features can be restricted or prohibited "if they are objectively capable of impairing trust in the civil servant's neutral conduct of office". Tattoo bans are now also regulated nationwide. In the justification reference is made to the state's duty of neutrality.

Originally it was about the question of what kind of tattoo police officers are allowed to show visibly. Among other things, an official from Bavaria is involved in a legal dispute over whether, as a representative of the state, he is allowed to show the word "Aloha" as a tattoo. The reason, however, was the case of a Berlin police officer who was dismissed for having an anti-constitutional tattoo. The Federal Constitutional Court confirmed the legality of the dismissal, but called for a clearer legal regulation.

According to the law, the following applies: He may if it is not too noticeable.

On the other hand, tattoos with anti-constitutional - such as extremist, racist or sexist - content are clearly prohibited.

In addition, "features of appearance" can be forbidden if they are too distracting, for example if tattoos are so large and conspicuous that they are "suitable for pushing the official function of the civil servant into the background."

Islamic associations and integration officers now fear a nationwide headscarf ban - because the new clothing law creates a basis for imposing headscarf bans in the public service nationwide, regardless of the official function.

Against the "Diversity Efforts in the Public Service"

The left-wing politician Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff warned precisely against this in the Federal Council.

In the past few days he had received a lot of mail, mainly from Muslim women who wanted to work in the public sector and now feared a conflict with their employer, said Hoff.

Officials should also have the opportunity to express their religious needs.

That is "part of our diversity efforts in the public service," said Hoff, who is also the anti-Semitism commissioner of the Thuringian state government.

It does not go together when one says on the one hand that Jews in Germany must be able to wear a kippah without fear and that that is exactly what officials forbid, said Hoff.

"Nothing will change when it comes to the headscarf ban"

From the Union's point of view, such concerns are unfounded. "This does not change anything in the legal situation regarding the ban on headscarves," said the domestic political spokesman for the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, Mathias Middelberg (CDU). A restriction or prohibition of features of the appearance that have a religious background is, as before, only possible if the strict requirements of the Federal Constitutional Court are observed, according to Middelberg.

But the Berlin integration officer Katarina Niewiedzial also criticized the law. "Civil servants with or without headscarves take the oath on the constitution," said Niewiedzial. To deny you the objectivity on the basis of a piece of clothing is wrong. “Instead, it must be about aligning the public service with the diversity of society and making new images of civil servants possible.” Law professor Kirsten Wiese also considers the law that has now been passed to be “highly problematic” with regard to religious freedom.

A young Muslim law student tried to draw attention to the possible headscarf ban with a petition online.

She recognizes in the law "an equation of right-wing extremist anti-constitutional symbols with religious symbols such as turban, kippa, headscarf or the habit of a Catholic nun."

Almost 150,000 people had joined the petition on Friday afternoon.

mrc

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-05-08

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