PM's wife takes up Denbigh uniform case

Cherie Booth argues human rights case in appeal hearing

The Prime Minister's wife is representing a girl battling to force Denbigh High School to allow head-to-toe Muslim dress.

Shabina Begum, 15, is appealing against a High Court ruling which said the Luton school was right to prevent her wearing an ankle-length jilbab robe.

Cherie Booth QC told the Court of Appeal that Denbigh High's refusal to allow the girl to wear the jilbab meant her right to freedom of religious expression under the European Convention on Human Rights was violated.

She said: "The question of modestly dressed females is not a quirky culture thing, it is recognised as a genuine manifestation of religious belief."

Female students at the school are allowed to wear traditional shalwar Kameez trousers and tunic and a hijab headscarf. The High Court's Mr Justice Bennett ruled against Shabina's claims that she was unlawfully excluded and had her human rights infringed, last June.

The teenager later transferred to Putteridge High School. Miss Booth introduced Miss Begum to the appeal court judges and told them the case involved fundamental issues about her rights to education and practising her religion.

Denbigh High School and Luton Borough Council have argued that they "bent over backwards" to accommodate Shabina. They said none of the school's other pupils, 79 per cent of whom are Muslim, have had a problem. Orphan Shabina wore a shalwar kameez until September 2002, but after becoming more devout told the school she could no longer wear it.

The case continues

23 December 2004

Source: LutonToday.co.uk