Facts
X., a Swiss national, was appointed by the State Council of the Canton of Geneva as a primary school teacher starting on September 1, 1990. Since the start of the 1995 school year, she has been teaching at a primary school in C. In 1991, X. converted to Islam and began wearing loose clothing and a headscarf covering her neck and hair, in accordance with the precepts of the Quran. In 1995, the primary education authorities were informed that X. was regularly wearing this Islamic headscarf at school. On July 11, 1996, the Director General informed X. that she had to refrain from wearing the headscarf starting from the next school year. X. appealed this decision to the State Council, which rejected her appeal on October 16, 1996. X. then filed a public law appeal with the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal dismissed X.'s appeal. It considered that X.'s wearing of the headscarf constituted a strong religious symbol, protected by the freedom of conscience and belief guaranteed by Art. 49 Cst. and Art. 9 ECHR. However, this freedom can be subject to limitations, provided that they are based on a sufficient legal basis, respond to an overriding public interest, and respect the principle of proportionality.
In this case, the Federal Tribunal considered that the prohibition on X. wearing the headscarf at school was based on a sufficient legal basis, namely Arts. 6 and 120(2) of the Cantonal Law on Public Education, which enshrine the principle of…