Prime Minister Manuel Valls robustly defended the burkini ban on Thursday while some ministers criticised it, exposing divisions within the government as campaigning begins.
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The court said the ban “seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom”.
He added: “French authorities must now drop the pretence that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women”.
The ruling by the State Council in Paris is a temporary one which only applies to the town.
French mayors had banned the swimwear in the name of laicit, a dogmatic form of secularism that has always been a tenet of the French political way of life.
According to the suspension, Nice’s ban had been lifted which translates into local police forces no longer being able to stop Muslim women from going to the beach or lying on the shore. They said the swimwear did not pose any threat to public order.
Nice town hall said it would “continue to fine” women wearing the burkini and the far-right mayor of Frejus, David Rachline, insisted his ban was “still valid”, telling AFP there was “no legal procedure” against his ruling.
But not everyone is happy with the decision with the mayors of several towns – including Nice, the scene of last months’s horrific attack which left 86 people dead – insisting they will flout the court in defiance of the ruling. But the state council found that this did not hold up under French law. France separates religion and public life, and was the first European country to ban the wearing of the Islamic face veil in public in 2010. John Dalhuisen, its Europe director, said in a statement: “By overturning a discriminatory ban that is fuelled by and is fuelling prejudice and intolerance, today’s decision has drawn an important line in the sand”.
The headscarf was banned from schools in 2004.
The court will make a final decision on the legality of the bans later.
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The controversy intensified after pictures and video of police appearing to enforce the ban by making a woman take off an item of clothing prompted widespread anger.
