The European Court of Human rights has upheld legislation in France prohibiting Muslim women from wearing a full-faced veil - or niqab - in public places.
Th ruling was made in the case of a 24-year-old French Muslim woman who argued that the ban, which came into force in 2010, violated her freedom of religion and expression.
The ECHR said the ban "was not expressly based on the religious connotation of the clothing in question but solely on the fact that it concealed the face".
Read more (BBC) >
Need for safety and security
In an article for the Telegraph, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali explains why issues surrounding safety, security and public interaction could justify a prohibition on the use of full-face veils in public in some instances. Read the full article
here >
