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In an unprecedented ruling in Britain, a Muslim woman was barred from serving on a jury for refusing to take off her face-veil (niqab), The Daily Mail reported Tuesday, March 20. \u201cI wonder whether I can address the lady who is veiled,\u201d Judge Aidan Marron QC said.
The Muslim woman was to take the oath in a case at Blackfriars Crown Court in London when the judge asked her to remove her face-veil.
\u201cWould you prefer not to remove your veil in this particular case?,\u201d Judge Marron asked the Muslim woman.
\u201cYes\u201d, the woman replied.
But the judge replied that it was \u201cdesirable\u201d if she removed her face-veil in this case.
\u201cSo I\u2019m going to invite you to stand down. I hope you understand.\u201d
The ruling is unprecedented in British courts as official guidelines allow the wearing of veils in court.
According to guidelines from the Judicial Studies Board’s equality advisory committee in 2007, Muslim women should be allowed to serve while wearing the veil as long as it did not interfere with the administration of justice.
“Each situation should be considered individually in order to find the best solution in each case,” the guidelines said.
The committee warned that forcing a woman to choose between participating in a court case and removing her veil could have a \u201csignificant impact on that woman\u2019s sense of dignity\u201d and serve to \u201cexclude and marginalize\u201d her.
The guidelines also say a judge may wish to consider excusing jurors in niqabs if a challenge is made by one of the parties, provided there is a genuine basis for the objection.
Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.5 million.<\/p>\n