The French blanket ban on the full-face veil and the Freedom to Manifest Religion: The opinions of the ECtHR and the UNHRC in comparison

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) were both tasked to rule on the compatibility of the French law no. 2010-1192, effectively introducing a blanket ban on the full-face veil in all the public space, with the freedom to manifest religion enshrined in article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and article 18 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). While the ECtHR found the law to be complying with the ECHR provision in its judgment on the case SAS v France, the UNHRC found it in violation of the ICCPR as ruled upon in its views adopted to the communications Yaker v France and Hebbadj v France. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the two different opinions. To do so it is considered first the freedom to manifest religion and its possible limitations as provided for ECHR and the ICCPR. Additionally, an overview is given on how the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have perceived such a law before the ECtHR had the chance to rule upon it. Afterwards the French law no. 2010-1192 is examined in detail together with the arguments brought forward by the different parties to the cases before the ECtHR and the UNHRC respectively. The following comparison starts with the similarities, wherefore the decisions on the infringement of the freedom to manifest religion itself, on the values of human dignity and gender equality, and on the aim of the protection of public safety are reviewed. Lastly, the different considerations on the aim of living together and the discriminatory nature of the ban are compared.