Islamic veil allowed in legal hearings, Canadian court reaffirms

A judge cannot refuse to take testimony from a woman because she is wearing an Islamic veil, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday.

Society

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

05 October, 2018

The Coalition Avenir Quebec administration seeks to prohibit the wearing of religious symbols [Getty]

A judge cannot refuse to take testimony from a woman because she is wearing an Islamic veil, a Canadian court ruled on Wednesday.

A citizen may wear any religious attire in a courtroom so long as their "religious beliefs are sincere" and they do not "conflict with another person's constitutional rights," the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled unanimously.

The ruling comes after a woman was scolded by a judge in a courtroom because she wore the headscarf.

"No party challenges that the courtrooms of the Court of Quebec - and for that matter all courtrooms in Quebec as throughout Canada - are spaces of religious neutrality," the three-judge appeal panel found, Canadian Press reported.

"This does not mean, however, that judges may rely on the neutrality of the courts alone as a justification for preventing litigants from accessing a courtroom simply because they are expressing sincerely held religious beliefs."

Montrealer Rania El-Alloul, a Muslim, was expelled from a courtroom in 2015 for wearing a hijab. Judge Eliana Marengo of the Court of Quebec had cited a court ruling that every person must be "appropriately dressed" and compared El-Alloul's headscarf "to a hat or sunglasses."

But Marengo did not consider the right of El-Alloul "to religious expression," the three appeals judges ruled.

Wednesday's ruling comes as a newly elected Coalition Avenir Quebec administration works on a ruling that prohibits civil servants in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols.

The planned legislation will affect judges, teachers and police officers.