FRANCE’S DEBATE over how to enforce a proposed ban on face-covering Islamic veils grew more intense yesterday after reports emerged of a veiled driver being fined by police for not having a clear field of vision.
President Nicolas Sarkozy this week ordered his government to present a draft law next month that would ban women from wearing full veils, including the niqab and burka, in all public places. It had been widely assumed that the government would opt for a ban on the veil in state buildings and on public transport, but the government’s plan would make it an offence to wear one on the street.
As politicians argued over how this could be enforced, a report emerged yesterday that a Muslim woman driver was stopped by traffic police in the western city of Nantes this month and fined €22 because her niqab – a veil that covers the face, but with a slit for the eyes – obstructed her field of vision.
The 31-year-old woman’s lawyer told French radio he is protesting the decision, insisting her vision was less restricted than that of a motorcyclist wearing a helmet.
“This fine is not justified on road safety grounds and constitutes a breach of human and women’s rights,” said the lawyer, Jean-Michel Pollono.
As politicians and legal experts pored over the implications of an outright ban, the government confirmed it would apply to visiting tourists as well as residents.
Family minister Nadine Morano said tourists would have to “respect the law” and uncover their faces, prompting critics to speculate about whether luxury shoppers from the Gulf would be forced by police to unveil themselves on the Champs-Elysées. The French state ombudsman is also concerned that the ban could lead to difficult situations.
“When you arrive in a country you have to respect the laws of that country,” Ms Morano said on France Info radio.
“If I go to certain countries I’m also forced to respect the law.” France’s Council of State, which provides the government with legal advice, last month responded to a request for guidance from prime minister François Fillon by warning against a full ban.
It argued that such a measure, if applied in the street and all other public places, could violate the French constitution and European law, as “no indisputable legal basis for a general and absolute ban on wearing a complete face-covering veil as such could be found”. Even limited restrictions would be hard to enforce, it added.
The council found there could be a solid legal basis for requiring people to present an uncovered face in certain cases, including situations involving public security; in courts, polling stations, city halls and places where the sale of items requires age verification; or at school doors, where children are picked up.
However, with strong support for the measure on the right, Mr Fillon said on Wednesday that he was ready to take on a “legal risk” by supporting the ban. It could be challenged in the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that it violates freedom of religion.