School wins Muslim Dress Appeal

24 March 2006

Decision of the UK's Highest Court
A school which was told that it had unlawfully excluded a Muslim pupil for wearing a traditional gown (jilbab) has won its appeal to the UK's Highest Court, the House of Lords. The Court of Appeal had said that the School had denied Shabina Begum the right to manifest her religion in refusing to allow her to wear the Jilbab. But in a unanimous ruling, judges at the House of Lords overturned that. They said that the school had "taken immense pains to devise a [school] uniform policy which respected Muslim beliefs". The judgment  of R (on the application of Begum (by her litigation friend Rahman) v Headteacher and Governors of Denbigh High School from  22 March 2006 can be found by following the link below:

source: House of Lords Judgment

Contact details

Fiona Palmer

Further information

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldjudgmt/jd060322/begum-1.htm