{"title":"Headscarf bans in the public workplace before the Court of Justice: OP v. Commune d’Ans or the Art of Ambiguity","authors":"Julie Ringelheim","doi":"10.1177/20319525241261027","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"OP v Commune d'Ans, handed down on 28 November 2023, is the fifth judgment issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union on a ban on the wearing of religious symbols in employment, but the first to concern a public workplace. This article argues that the judgment does not help clarify the issue. It is ambiguous and provides only vague guidance to national courts. Two aspects of its reasoning are particularly puzzling: firstly, the absence of any discussion on the very meaning and implications of the neutrality of the public service; and secondly, the recognition of a margin of discretion not only for states but also for sub-state entities, such as municipalities, in determining the concrete content of that principle.","PeriodicalId":41157,"journal":{"name":"European Labour Law Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Labour Law Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20319525241261027","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"LAW","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
OP v Commune d'Ans, handed down on 28 November 2023, is the fifth judgment issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union on a ban on the wearing of religious symbols in employment, but the first to concern a public workplace. This article argues that the judgment does not help clarify the issue. It is ambiguous and provides only vague guidance to national courts. Two aspects of its reasoning are particularly puzzling: firstly, the absence of any discussion on the very meaning and implications of the neutrality of the public service; and secondly, the recognition of a margin of discretion not only for states but also for sub-state entities, such as municipalities, in determining the concrete content of that principle.
2023 年 11 月 28 日宣判的 OP v Commune d'Ans 案是欧盟法院就禁止在工作中佩戴宗教标志发布的第五份判决,但却是第一份涉及公共工作场所的判决。本文认为,该判决无助于澄清问题。判决模棱两可,仅为各国法院提供了模糊的指导。其推理的两个方面尤其令人费解:首先,没有对公共服务中立的含义和影响进行任何讨论;其次,承认在确定该原则的具体内容时,不仅国家,而且市镇等次国家实体都有一定的自由裁量权。