Religion and Law Consortium

Bulletin 13 July 2010:  The lower house of the French parliament has by a vote of 335 to 1 passed the ban on full-face veils.  A vote is expected by the Senate in late September.

May 2010 - Europe and Quebec

The lower house of the Belgian parliament, with near unanimity, has on 29 April 2010 passed a bill authorizing a nationwide ban on clothes or veils that do not allow the wearer to be fully identified, including the full-face niqab or burqa. Penalties would include fines and jail sentences of up to a week. The bill is expected easily to pass the upper house of parliament, which officially had two weeks to raise objections. At this point, Belgium would become the first European country to ban the burqa. The late-April collapse of the Beligan government, however, over disputes between French and Flemish speakers concerning political and language rights, could postpone a final decision indefinitely. Belgium is slated to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on 1 July 2010.

In March 2010 the Canadian province of Quebec passed a bill proscribing face cover by anyone employed by the state or receiving services from the state. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy has publicly denounced the wearing of the full veil, calling it an affront to French values and a denigration of women. On 11 May 2010 the French parliament passed a nonbinding resolution supporting a ban of the full veil, and draft legislation was introduced the following day.

Also in early May a Muslim woman in northern Italy was fined under anti-terrorism laws for wearing a black niqab in public, and members of the anti-immigration Northern League are said to be pushing for a full ban of Islamic face-covering garments in public. Similar movements have arisen in Germany, but German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has dismissed calls for full-veil banning as "inappropriate and therefore unnecessary."

Meanwhile Amnesty International has joined with Muslim voices in opposition to the bans, calling them violations of freedom of religion and freedom of expression that set dangerous precedents. In an open letter of 12 May to the members of the European Parliament, the European Forum of Muslim Women writes, "Besides ignoring fundamental freedoms, these legislations are useless and dangerous."