Criminalisation of the Burqa in the UK
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022018316638983 |
| Author | Mohammad Mazher Idriss |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Criminalisation of the Burqa
in the UK
Mohammad Mazher Idriss
University of Derby, Derby, UK
Abstract
In 2010, the French government passed a law banning face coverings in public places. This
includes shopping malls, restaurants and schools. Although worded widely, the law was drafted
to prevent Muslim women from wearing the Islamic face veil in public. Those who wear it now
risk facing a criminal conviction. In February 2014, the House of Commons held a Second
Reading of the Face Coverings (Prohibition) Bill, which is very similar to the French law.
Though it did not complete its passage through Parliament, the Bill signals an intention by some
to ban face veils in British streets. This paper will examine the main arguments for and against
the policy to criminalise the burqa and how a ban undermines the autonomy and identity of
Muslim women. It will argue that a paternalistic law that instructs women what they can (or
cannot) wear would be very alien to British culture. Analysis will also be provided on the Grand
Chamber’s decision in SAS vFrance (2015) and the potential impact this might have for the UK
and human rights law.
Keywords
Criminalisation, burqa, article 9, ECHR
Diversity in the UK
The right to practise one’s religious beliefs was challenged recently in 2014 by proposals to ban the
burqa in public places under the Face Coverings (Prohibition) Bill. The burqa (or, more accurately, the
niqab) is that garment of clothing that covers all of the face except for the eyes and is worn by Muslim
women for a variety of personal and religious reasons. Some feminists argue that women base their
decision to wear the burqa on modesty, privacy, morality and non-objectification as a sexual object,
1
Corresponding author:
Mohammad Mazher Idriss, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Law School, Faculty of Business and Law, Lower
Ormond Street, Manchester, M15 6BH, UK.
E-mail: m.idriss@mmu.ac.uk
1. E. Wiles, ‘Headscarves, Human Rights and Harmonious Multicultural Society: Implications of the French Ban for Inter-
pretations of Equality (2007) 41(3) Law and Society Review 699 at 717 and 721–3. See also C. Dwyer, ‘The Geographies of
Veiling: Muslim Women in Britain’ (2008) 93(3) Geography 140.
The Journal of Criminal Law
2016, Vol. 80(2) 124–137
ªThe Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0022018316638983
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