2004 Volume 4 Pages 15-23
On September 24, 2003, the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany handed down a ruling in the case regarding the issue of whether the authorities could deny a job to a would-be teacher expressing her desire to wear a Muslim head scarf in class at elementary and secondary schools, or Grundschule and Hauptschule in German. There were two conflicting views on this issue: One considered it constitutional for the administrative authorities to refuse employment because of its influence on neutrality in public education and negative effects on students’ freedom of religion. The other regarded denial of a job as unconstitutional, emphasizing the religious freedom of teachers. The court ruled, contrary to expectations, that state legislators could pass new laws prohibiting a teacher from wearing a head scarf in class, while maintaining that the administrative office could not refuse employment unless it had any legal basis. Accordingly, the decision on this issue ended up in the hands of political process. These developments meet democratic demands in one respect; they involve the risk of lessening the value of human rights in another, especially when the rights of minorities in a certain society are concerned as they were in this case. Does the ruling given by the Federal Constitutional Court involve restoration of legislative power or refuge in legislation? This should be one of the topics to be addressed before starting a discussion on “legal policy studies”.
