Girl loses right to wear Muslim clothing in school

LONDON - A teenage Muslim girl lost the final stage of a long-running legal battle on yesterday to be allowed to wear full Islamic dress at school.

Shabina Begum was sent home from school in September 2002 and ordered to change her clothes after she decided to start wearing the jilbab, a long gown which covers the whole body except for the hands and face.

She successfully appealed against the decision in March 2005 when the Appeal Court ruled her human rights had been breached by the ban.

But her school, Denbigh High in Luton, itself appealed against that decision and on Wednesday it was upheld by the House of Lords.

"Her family had chosen that school for her with the knowledge of its uniform requirements," said Lord Hoffmann, one of five law lords who heard the case.

"She should have sought the help of the school and the education authority in solving the problem. They would no doubt have advised her that if she was firm in her belief, she should change schools."

The case has been seen as a test for the rights of the country's 1.6 million Muslims, many of whom celebrated last year's ruling in Begum's favour.

Begum, now 17, missed months of schooling as a result of the ban, which has been likened to France's hardline approach to the same issue.

France has banned all conspicuous religious clothing in state schools, including Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.

- REUTERS