The Swiss Judiciary and International Human Rights Bodies: A Closer Look at Muslim Religious Practices in Public Schools

Abstract

The integration of Muslim immigrants seems to challenge the traditionally Christian European society. This concerns in particular the question to what extent Muslims’ religious practices should be accommodated by public schools, which is the topic of the present paper. One example is the Muslim headscarf, which raised tempers and led schools to prohibit or restrict the wearing of the controversial piece of clothing. While such issues concern teachers as well as students, this paper will focus on the latter. Looking at the issue from the perspective of the human right to freedom of religion, this paper, based on a case law analysis, shows that, influenced by the political sensitivity of the topic of immigration and religion, judicial bodies opt for differing interpretations of this human right. It is thus not surprising that a division among the human rights systems applicable to the European context, namely the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UN HR Committee), can be observed. Such discrepancy in the interpretation of international standards puts national courts in a difficult situation. Using Switzerland as a case study, this paper presents how the Swiss judiciary deals with restrictions of Muslim students’ religious practices in public schools and inquires to what extent the division of the international human rights landscape influenced these decisions.