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The VfGH lifted the ban on headscarves in elementary schools for girls up to 10 years old, which was decided by the VP-FP federal government and has been in effect since fall 2019.
The constitutional judges justified the decision that the regulation singled out a certain religion, Islam, without further justification, which contradicts the state’s requirement of religious and ideological neutrality. VfGH President Christoph Grabenwarter explained that the principle of equality, together with the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, justifies the religious and ideological neutrality of the state.
The ban does not explicitly refer to the wearing of an Islamic headscarf. The legal materials, however, express the legislature’s intention that the wearing of an Islamic headscarf be specifically prohibited. The abolition required that two children and their parents be brought up in accordance with Islam. They also saw it as a violation of the principle of equality because the hijab was prohibited, but the Jewish kippah or patka, the hat of the Sikhs, was not.
Upper Austrian FP chief Manfred Haimbuchner said the decision should be accepted, but that it was “a step backwards in terms of civilization.” Vice President Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer’s regional managing director expressed “with due respect for the ruling” misunderstanding. The children’s headscarf is “a symbol of oppression.” The Islamic religious community in Austria, on the other hand, spoke of an “end to the populist prohibition policy.”
