Doing minority justice through procedural fairness: face veil bans in Europe

The French and Belgian bans on face veils in public places have been subjected to strong substantive human rights critiques. This article takes a complementary approach, examining the bans from the perspective of procedural fairness. Indeed, the French and Belgian bans are extreme examples of legislative processes taking place above the heads of the people concerned, neglecting the ban’s possible human rights impact. After exploring what the social psychology notion of procedural fairness entails for the judiciary and the legislator, especially in a multicultural context, this article details procedural fairness shortcomings with respect to the face veil ban in France and Belgium. Subsequently, the article sets out how the European Court of Human Rights might compensate for these shortcomings

“Burkini” bans in Belgian municipal swimming pools : banning as a default option

Muslim women’s religious dress is a matter that exercises many minds and the recent public debate on the so-called “burkini” (preferably phrased as “body covering swimwear”) is the umpteenth variation on the theme. Following the French commotion on the presence of “burkini” wearers at the coast in 2016, the “burkini” became the subject of public debate in Belgium. Whereas the “burkini” did not cause much public unrest in the context of the Belgian coast, the majority of local swimming pools in the Flemish region of Belgium do have dress codes banning the “burkini”, even before the (inter)national media outcry. This article discusses the prevalence of these restrictive dress regulations and scrutinizes the rationalisation behind local “burkini” bans in municipal swimming pools. These findings are complemented with the perspectives and experiences of “burkini” wearers, who challenged the “burkini” bans before the court. Finally, this article analyses the “burkini” bans in light of European human rights standards

Wearing the face veil in Belgium : views and experiences of 27 women living in Belgium concerning the Islamic full face veil and the Belgian ban on face covering

Belgium adopted a legal ban on face covering on 1 June 2011. The current empirical study is part of a broader research project that includes also research documenting local bans and examining the bans from a human rights perspective. The main purpose of the research was to check some of the apparent hypotheses of the Belgian legislator from the perspective of the women wearing a face veil in Belgium. Analysis of the travaux préparatoires revealed three main motives behind the ban: improving (subjective and objective) safety, guaranteeing communication and social cohesion, and protecting women’s rights.4 An academic paper engaging with this research question, will be published elsewhere. The current report is a presentation of the findings of the empirical research as such