The question of the full-face veil as an issue of human rights

Abstract

For all the above mentioned reasons, the main object of the present Master Thesis is to examine the case of the full face veil bans, as an issue of human rights, and from the perspective of the European Convention of Human Rights and that of the European Court on Human Rights. Since it is accepted that wearing religious symbols and clothing constitutes a part of Article 9 of the ECHR, the basic research question is to approach the full-face veil as an element of human rights and through its establishment on the ECHR and the relevant views of the ECtHR via its established case-law. The interest of the present Thesis is apparent. Living in multicultural societies, getting daily in touch with different cultures, habits and religions makes it clear that it is essential to fully understand the function of the Muslim veil and the different approaches that have been developed. For that research purpose to be fulfilled, the present paper is structured as follows: The first and present chapter serves as an introductory part, for the reader to understand the main question and the issue that will be examined. The second chapter deals with the history of the veil, while its significance is being presented over the times. The third chapter includes the debate that has been developed over the use of the Islamic veil and its lifting demand. The reaction of the European countries towards that debate is presented, especially in France and Belgium. Moreover, the logic behind those reactions is examined, so that the reader has a fully understanding of the situation. The fourth chapter presents the provisions of the ECHR that are relevant to the full face veil prohibitions and accordingly the conditions under which such a restriction is valid and permitted by the European Convention. The fifth chapter approaches the ECtHR’s stance in the above mentioned issue. The most crucial case law is presented from 2001 until today, in order to fully examine the shifts of its views and the way it has reacted to the issue of the burqa bans. The sixth and last chapter includes the relevant conclusions that have been extracted from the present study. It has to be pointed out that the basis of the present Master Thesis and the point of view from which the veil banning is examined is that of Article 9 of the ECHR and the ECtHR’s jurisprudence relatively. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not being examined in the present thesis. Finally, it has to be mentioned that in order to complete this paper the methodology that has been chosen as the most appropriate is that of literature review, meaning secondary research based on relevant bibliography while using the necessary key-words.