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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Ashifa Kassam European community affairs correspondent

Government offices in EU can ban wearing of religious symbols, court rules

A back view of women wearing headscarves
The court said bans on religious symbols, such as Islamic headscarves, were permissible in order to enforce an ‘entirely neutral administrative environment’. Photograph: Martin Argles/The Guardian

Government offices across the EU can ban employees from wearing religious symbols, such as Islamic headscarves, in the interest of neutrality, the EU’s top court has ruled, though it stressed that such restrictions must be applied equally to all employees and fit within the legal context of each member state.

The decision, published by the court of justice of the European Union on Tuesday, said such bans were permissible in order to enforce an “entirely neutral administrative environment”.

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