France’s highest administrative court has suspended a ban on full-body “burkini” swimsuits that was imposed in a town on the Mediterranean coast.
The ban in Villeneuve-Loubet “seriously and clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms to come and go, freedom of beliefs and individual freedom”, the court ruled.
Burkini became a trending topic after photos of armed police surrounding a Muslim woman as she removed her top on a beach in Nice sparked outrage this week.
Friday’s ruling could set a precedent for up to 30 other towns that imposed bans.
The court will make a final decision on the legality of the bans later.
The decision means that all the bans on burkinis are likely now to be overturned but one mayor in Corsica has already vowed to keep the ban in place on his town beach.
A human rights group, the Human Rights League (LDH), and an anti-Islamophobia association (CCIF), brought the ban in Villeneuve-Loubet to the court’s attention.
Patrice Spinosi, a lawyer for the LDH, said outside court that people who had been fined could claim their money back.
Amnesty International welcomed the court’s decision. The human rights group’s Europe director, John Dalhuisen, said it had “drawn a line in the sand”.
He said: “French authorities must now drop the pretence that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women.
“These bans do nothing to increase public safety but do a lot to promote public humiliation.”
The burkini bans have ignited fierce debate in France and worldwide.
Opinions polls suggested most French people backed the bans, which town mayors said were protecting public order and secularism.
In Cannes, which was the first city to announce the prohibition, the mayor specifically alluded to the recent attacks by Isis supporters in Nice and Normandy.
The bans have since spread, sparking fierce debate about France’s secular values, women’s rights and religious freedom.
Muslims said they were being targeted unfairly.
The court said local authorities did not have the power to restrict individual liberties in this way without “proven risk” to public order.
