School wins Muslim dress appeal

A school which was told it unlawfully excluded a Muslim pupil for wearing a traditional gown has won its appeal at the House of Lords.
The Court of Appeal had said Denbigh High School had denied Shabina Begum the right to manifest her religion in refusing to allow her to wear a jilbab.
But in a unanimous ruling, judges at the House of Lords overturned that.
They said the school had "taken immense pains to devise a uniform policy which respected Muslim beliefs".
It had done so "in an inclusive, unthreatening and uncompetitive way".
'Unwillingness to comply'
They said: "The rules laid down were as far from being mindless as uniform rules could ever be."
They added: "It appeared the rules were acceptable to mainstream Muslim opinion."
Shabina Begum had chosen a school which "went to unusual lengths to inform parents of its uniform policy."
They ruled there was no interference with her right to manifest her religion as she had chosen a school where such a policy existed.
'Unwillingness'
There were three other schools in the area which permitted the jilbab, they noted, although one was oversubscribed.
Lord Bingham ruled that the two-year interruption of Begum's schooling was the result of her "unwillingness to comply with a rule to which the school was entitled to adhere".
In March last year, Denbigh High School said it had "lost on a technicality" when the Court of Appeal said it had failed to consider the Human Rights Act implications of its school uniform policy.
Lord Justice Brooke had called for more guidance for schools on complying with the Human Rights Act.

The Law Lords decides video.

Shabina's reaction