Constitutional Court rejects urgent applications against headscarf ban at compulsory schools

The new rule therefore formally applies but is not yet enforceable. As long as the transitional period is running, neither pupils nor parents will face any consequences that would follow directly from the ban.

What the applicants have argued

From the rejection as inadmissible, constitutional experts assess that the actual main proceedings can only be decided on the merits once the law enters into force in September. The VfGH will then address the question of whether the ban is constitutional.

The applicants had argued that the headscarf ban interferes with freedom of religion and the parental right of upbringing. They see themselves as being violated in their fundamental rights by the planned regulation and therefore filed the urgent application.

The headscarf ban prohibits female pupils under 14 from wearing a headscarf that covers the head according to Islamic tradition. It was adopted as part of a broader education and integration package and is part of a wider political debate about the role of religious symbols in everyday school life.

Even before the VfGH, individual proceedings had taken place at the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) dealing with similar issues. There too, the question of applicability was a central issue.

Outlook on the main proceedings

In its decision, the VfGH pointed out that a rejection as inadmissible does not constitute a substantive assessment of the law. The court had merely examined whether a concrete interference with the legal sphere of the applicants already exists.

With the decision, the further course of the proceedings is largely predetermined. As soon as the law enters into force in September and initial cases of application arise, new individual applications can be filed, which would then have to be examined on the merits by the VfGH.

From circles of the applicants, it was said that they would closely observe the new legal situation in September and, if necessary, once again approach the Constitutional Court. Until then, the question of the constitutionality of the headscarf ban remains open.

The media debate about the headscarf ban extends far beyond the legal core and touches on questions of integration, equal treatment and the relationship between state and religion. Observers expect that the VfGH's decision in the main proceedings will also attract socio-political attention.