The Council of State, the top court in the French administrative justice system, ruled that the ban on bathing at the beach in the outfit, enacted by the town of Villeneuve-Loubet on August 5, violated civil liberties, including freedom of movement and religious freedom.
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While the decision sets a precedent for future appeals, administrators in other towns including Nice and Sisco have promised to continue fining women who defy bans on the full body swimsuit.
The bans came after the Bastille Day attack in Nice and the murder of a priest in Normandy.
Several mayors in southeast France on Friday said they would maintain their bans on the Islamic burkini swimsuit despite a ruling by France’s highest administrative court to suspend the measures.
Lawyer Patrice Spinosi, representing the Human Rights League, said that women who have already received fines can protest them based on Friday’s decision.
While Valls argued that burkinis oppress women, two ministers in his cabinet, Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and Health Minister Marisol Touraine, have said banning burkinis is not a good option.
And, while the suspension only applies to Villeneuve-Loubet near Nice at the moment, the human rights organisations that brought the case forward hope the ban will be overturned elsewhere.
The city banned the burkini on its beaches last week, following about 15 seaside areas in south-east France where mayors had done the same.
Some rights groups have said the new laws amount to the “collective punishment” of Muslims following the terror attacks and amid friction over immigration and the refugee crisis.
“From now on, it is up to everyone to take responsibility for cooling off, which is the only way to avoid public order disturbances and to try and live together”, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
The French government would refuse to legislate on the issue after around 30 local mayors and councils imposed the ban in their local area.
He told BFM-TV, “Here the tension is very, very, very strong, and I won’t withdraw it”.
Marine Le Pen is predictably all for the ban.
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“We need to decide if we want a smiley, friendly version of sharia on our beaches or if we want the rules of the (French) republic to be implemented”, he said, referring to the Islamic legal and moral code of sharia. However, he ruled out drafting a national law banning burkinis.
