France: Muslim juror had to be removed from court because she refused to take off her veil

A woman who was selected as a juror for a trial finally had to be dismissed because she refused to take off her Islamic veil. According to the newspaper “La Provence”, which reported the incident, the trouble occurred on Thursday, September 16, in the run-up to the trial of a minor charged with grand theft in Aix-en-Provence. Although she had originally been chosen as a juror, the woman in question refused to submit to formalities when she was sworn in.

This step, where the jurors undertake to judge the accused impartially and to keep their discussions secret, is governed by Article 304 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as La Provence points out. The latter provides that the judge addresses the jury while standing and gives a speech…. It is therefore mandatory that jurors swear their oaths without headgear. The woman in question was therefore asked to remove her Islamic veil, but this was persistently refused to the president of the court.

She was therefore dismissed from the jury and replaced. According to a source in La Provence, such incidents rarely occur at the court in Aix-en-Provence. The reason is that people wearing a veil would be rejected from the beginning of the selection process to avoid the problem.

https://www.valeursactuelles.com/regions/provence-alpes-cote-dazur/bouches-du-rhone/aix-en-provence/faits-divers/aix-en-provence-une-juree-dassises-refuse-de-retirer-son-voile-islamique-pour-preter-serment/