Following the government's prohibition on the wearing of abayas and khamis in public schools, an organization has filed an appeal, leading to a hearing at France's highest

administrative court. The two-hour discussion in Paris on Tuesday, September 5, regarding the wearing of abayas in French schools was marked by tension, passion, and at times, disorder. Lawyers William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, representing the Action Droits des Musulmans (Action Rights of Muslims, ADM) organization established in 2015 to combat perceived Islamophobic measures, lodged the appeal. Their appeal sought the suspension of the Ministry of Education's directive that banned the wearing of abayas and khamis in schools.

Five representatives from the Ministry of Education were present to defend the ban. However, only Guillaume Odinet, the director of legal affairs, spoke on behalf of the government. Notably, besides Sihem Zine, the founder of ADM, and an assisting judge, who did not speak but aided the hearing's president in summarizing proceedings, the discussion about the clothing worn by young Muslim women was attended exclusively by men.

For an appeal to be accepted, two conditions must be met: the urgency to act due to bias and a severe and clearly unlawful violation of fundamental rights. Both parties vigorously debated these aspects, closely observed by Pierre Collin, who often attempted to steer the discussions back on course. The Jeunesse France Harcèlement, an organization dedicated to combating harassment and cyberbullying, had sought to join the appeal before the debates, but their submission was deemed inadmissible due to a lack of legal relevance.

During his argument, Brengarth emphasized that the government had made a significant policy shift by completely prohibiting the abaya in schools just one day before the start of the new academic year. This marked a departure from the previous academic year when the ban was at the discretion of individual school heads. As a result, there is an urgent need to address the issue to prevent the exclusion of potentially dozens or even hundreds of students. In response to the defense's brief, the lawyer cited several instances of young girls who were barred from attending classes on the first day of the school year, as reported by the ADM association on Monday evening. Photo by Hans Braxmeier, Wikimedia commons.