German court allows courtroom headscarf ban

A Muslim legal trainee was again denied permission to wear a hijab in court. A judge ruled in favor of a headscarf ban one month before a new law comes into effect and puts an end to years of debate.

A court in the southern German city of Munich has overturned a 2016 lower court’s ruling that struck down a Bavarian state ban on headscarves in courtrooms.

Even if the claimant had won on Wednesday, victory would have been short-lived. The case led the Bavarian parliament to pass a state law completely prohibiting people from wearing religious symbols in courtrooms. The law is set to come into effect in April.

The facts of the case:

  • Bavaria’s Higher Regional Court told a 25-year-old legal student in 2014 she could not wear a headscarf during public appearances at court. The German-Pakistani student was doing legal training at the court at the time.
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