The proposed changes by the Green justice minister Félix Braz, introduced on 17 January, include the ban of the full veil, and will be applied on:

• public transport;
• schools (and schoolgrounds), as well as all premises intended to accommodate minors (under 16 years of age) such as crèches and daycare centres;
• hospitals, health and care establishments and retirement homes (with the exception of elderly people’s rooms). The possibility for the head of the institution to allow concealment of the face in the common areas has been removed;
• courts and buildings in which administrative public services are provided.

The ban does not affect carnival festivities.

The revisions also concern the exceptions provided for in the ban: it should be allowed for everyone to hide his face “in the context of sports practices, parties or artistic or traditional events where it is customary that one hides all or part of the face”, such as at carnival parties or a fencing tournament. According to this draft, the wearing of a mask for medical reasons requires a medical certificate.

The government’s amendments will be sent for opinion to the Council of State which--in an initial opinion--had judged the text of the justice minister to be too imprecise.

Discussions on two other drafts

Discussions on the conditions and motives for the prohibition of concealment of the face were animated within the parliamentary committee.

The committee also discussed two other drafts, submitted by ADR MP Fernand Kartheiser (parliamentary file 6705) and by CSV MPs Gilles Roth and Laurent Mosar (parliamentary file 6909).

Both draft bills have a different approach to the text of the government. While the minister of justice’s bill limits the ban to certain public places, the other two texts aim to prohibit the concealment of the face in the public space more generally.