France has banned the wearing of burqas in French classes for immigrants. The High Authority for the Fight Against Discrimination and for Equality (HALDE) has ruled that “the burqa signifies female submission that goes beyond its religious notion and can be seen as breaching republican values.”

The ruling will result in the barring of the burqa or the niqab, another full-body veil, in French classes for immigrants. French language classes are mandatory for immigrants applying for work papers, residency permits and citizenship.

Louis Schweitzer, the head of HALDE, told the newspaper La Croix that religious freedom is “not absolute” and could be limited if there is a valid reason. He denied any “extremism” in France’s implementation of its secularism.

The HALDE said its decision was based on rulings from the European Human Rights Court’s ruling and took into account the demands of the French constitution.

A 2004 law bars students from wearing prominent religious symbols in schools or universities, including the Christian cross, the Jewish skullcap, the Muslim veil or the Sikh turban. The rule prompted demonstrations across the country.

But the French are having problems with consistency in applying the law. At an appeals court in the eastern city of Nancy, a woman was ordered to pay compensation to a family and the Human Rights League because she refused to let women guests wear veils in her bed and breakfast.

In July, France’s highest court denied a Moroccan woman citizenship, saying her burqa and her religious practice, a fundamentalist branch of Islam called Salafism, didn’t fit with “essential values of the French community.”

Meanwhile, in Denmark, the government has decided that its courts will be secular and that no religious symbols will be permitted. Danish judges will not be allowed to wear Muslim headscarves in court — and the Christian cross, the Jewish skullcap and the Sikh turban will also be banned.

“We have decided to prohibit the wearing of (all) religious or political symbols while exercising the function of a magistrate, because a judge must be neutral and impartial,” the Justice Minister Lene Espersen told reporters.

The wearing of Muslim headscarves in courtrooms was authorised in December, although the country has no Muslim judges at present. The decision was only revealed by the media recently, causing a public outcry. New legislation is required to overturn the December ruling, but the support of the Danish People’s Party means the government will carry a comfortable majority. Espersen is due to present draft legislation to parliament in the autumn.