Burkini ban is back after French court overrides council's rule change

France's Interior Minister said the decision by Grenoble council to override the ban on burkinis "undermined secularism’.

Members of the pro-burkini association « Alliance Citoyenne » celebrated the change of rules by Grenoble council that would have allowed them to swim in the head-to-toe swimsuit in public pools but a Show more

A French court has waded into the “burkini” ban debate by overturning a recent decision of a city council to allow women to wear the swimsuit in public swimming pools.

The municipal council of Grenoble, an ecologist-run city in the French Alps, scrapped its bathing dress code and allowed for the wearing of burkinis - which covers the whole body except the face, the hands and the feet ― in a vote on May 16.

The decision sparked cries of protest from centre-right and far-right politicians and reignited the charged debates over France’s secular values.

Following an objection filed by the French Interior Ministry, a French administrative court has now suspended the city of Grenoble's decision to allow the body-covering "burkini" bathing suits for women, arguing that it “seriously violated the principle of neutrality in public service”.

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin welcomed the court ruling as “excellent news” in a post on Twitter Wednesday evening. He said the decision by the decision by the ecologist mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piolle, one of the country’s highest-profile Green politicians, to allow the costume type had "seriously undermined secularism".

The rule changes Grenoble council had approved would have allowed all types of swimwear, not just traditional bathing suits for women and trunks for men. Women would also have been free to bathe topless if they chose to.

"The administrative court considers that the mayor of Grenoble, with his decision allowing burkinis in municipal pools, is seriously undermining secularism. Apologies are in order," posted Mr Darmanin.

Mr Darmanin said the court ruling was based on the 2021 "separatism" law voted during President Emmanuel Macron's first term, which allows the suspension of measures that would "undermine secularism and the neutrality of public services."

The ruling is the latest development in a long-running public argument between those who say they are defending of France’s secular values and those who argue that a burkini ban constitutes discrimination.

Far-right party leader Marine Le Pen - who came second after Macron in presidential elections in April and hopes to defeat Macron's centrist party at parliament elections in June - has said she wants to introduce a law banning burkinis in municipal pools.

Muslim rights organisations in France have said that bans on burkinis - which leave only the face, hands and feet exposed - restrict fundamental liberties and discriminate against Muslim women.

France, which has the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5 million, in 2010 introduced a ban on full-face niqab and burqa veils in public.