In a widely followed case, R (on the Application of Begum) v. Headteacher and Governors of Denbigh High School, a unanimous 5-judge panel of the British House of Lords today overturned a lower court ruling and held that Art. 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights was not violated when student Shabina Begum was banned from wearing a traditional Islamic jilbab at school. Similarly, it held that her right to education under Article 2 of the First Protocol to the Convention was not infringed.
Denbigh High School had a uniform policy that allowed Begum to wear the shalwar kameez (trousers and tunic), but not a jilbab that covered her entire body. (See prior posting.) Today's Education Guardian reports that Lord Bingham's opinion emphasized that courts, lacking the experience, background and detailed knowledge of the headteacher, staff and governors, should not interfere in the school's decision. He pointed out that the school's policy was acceptable to mainstream Muslim opinion.
Shabina's counsel, Cherie Booth QC, said that the kameez was no longer suitable for Begum because she had reached sexual maturity and it did not sufficiently protect her modesty. Lord Bingham said any sincere religious belief such as that held by Shabina must command respect, but the issue was whether her freedom to manifest her belief by her dress was subject to limitation and whether that limitation was justified. He said Shabina could have attended another school, where the jilbab was permitted. He was satisfied there was no interference with her right to manifest her belief, and even if there was interference, it was a "proportionate" response by the school.
Agreeing, Lord Hoffmann said that Article 9 of the European Convention "does not require that one should be allowed to manifest one's religion at any time and place of one's own choosing." Shabina's family had chosen that school with knowledge of its uniform requirements.
Begum said she would be discussing with her lawyers whether they would appeal the case
to the European Court of Human Rights.
