The judges believe that the swimsuit not near the body is freed from the common rule, which calls into question the neutrality of the public service. City lawyers appeal.
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achieving secularism or preservation of religious freedom? The implicit authorization of the burkini in the new regulations of the municipal pool of Grenoble aroused a fundamental debate on Wednesday, May 25. But it was on a tiny clothing detail that the affair has rebounded. It is indeed because of the form of the burkini that the administrative court pronounced the suspension of the deliberation voted by a short majority, at the municipal council of Grenoble, May 16.
This swimsuit covering the body, sometimes accompanied by a hood, has a floating skirt which, by definition, is not “near the body”. However, article 10 of the new regulation of Piscines de Grenoble generally requires outfits “near the body”, in specific fabrics, nylon or lycra, but it is content to prohibit “outfits not near the body” only if They are “longer than mid-thigh (dress, long or flared tunic)”.
According to the administrative judges, the provisions of the regulation were therefore only drawn up to respond to the authorization of the burkini, clothing with a religious connotation. “By derogating from the general rule of obligation to wear adjusted outfits near the body to allow certain users to free themselves from this rule for a religious purpose, as is also recognized in the Scriptures of the Municipality , the authors of the disputed deliberation have seriously affected the principle of neutrality of the public service “, justifies the order of the court.
” respect the principle of neutrality “
The judges have considered that users of the public service cannot free themselves from common rules by prevailing their beliefs. And they criticize the town for having given in to their request. “The administrative authority must respect the principle of neutrality and enact rules contributing to the maintenance of public order under its components of public safety, health and tranquility. It cannot be derogated from the rules enacted in the objective of ensuring public order, “said the order.
By asking for details on the form of the burkini, at the end of the hearing, President Jean-Paul Wyss hinted that this clothing point raised questions. No speaker had anticipated it.
The prefecture of Isère seized the administrative court under the “secularized deserted”, established by the Law called” separatism “, from August 24, 2021 . The procedure, of a maximum period of forty-eight hours, makes it possible to challenge any act of a community which “would seriously affect the principles of secularism and neutrality of public services”. Sign of a case followed at the highest summit of the State, it is the director of public freedoms and legal affairs of the Ministry of the Interior who moved to Grenoble to plead the file.
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