Friday, June 27, 2014

Turkey's Constitutional Court Says Female Lawyers Can Wear Headscarves In Courtrooms

On Wednesday, Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled 16-1 that the rights of a Muslim female lawyer had been infringed when she was not permitted to enter a courtroom wearing a headscarf.  According to Daily Sabah, the Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, ruled in 2013 that women lawyers had the right to register at the Bar Association with a photo showing them wearing a headscarf. However some judges were still banning headscarves in their courtrooms. The Constitutional Court said this week that such bans violate Art. 10 (equality before the law) and Art. 24 (freedom of religion and conscience) of Turkey's Constitution.