R v Headteacher and Governors of Denbigh High School, ex p Begum

R (Begum) v Denbigh High School
Jilbāb, of which its wearing is the center of this case.
Court	House of Lords
Decided	2006
Citation(s)	[2006] UKHL 15, [2007] 1 AC 100
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Scott of Foscote, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Baroness Hale of Richmond
Keywords
Religious dress, religious discrimination, Human Rights Act 1998

R (Begum) v Governors of Denbigh High School [2006] is a House of Lords case on the legal regulation of religious symbols and dress under the Human Rights Act 1998.

The case involved Shabina Begum, a Muslim pupil at Denbigh High School in Luton, UK, who sued her school. Begum opposed the schools requirement that she wear the shalwar kameez Denbigh school uniform instead of a longer, looser Muslim gown (a jilbāb), on the grounds that the uniform was not compliant with Sharia law. Begum lost her case in the High Court, won on appeal to the Court of Appeal, but then lost in March 2006 when the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords unanimously overturned the first appeal.

Shabina Begum (Bengali: শবিনা বেগম; born in the UK, aged 16 at the time and of Bangladeshi origin), was a pupil at Denbigh High School in Luton, Bedfordshire. Four out of the six parent governors were Muslims, the Chair of the Luton Council of Mosques was a community governor and three of the LEA governors were also Muslims. However the school also contained a significant number of pupils of other faiths and the school wished to be inclusive in serving the needs of this diverse community and regarded the school uniform as promoting a sense of communal identity. In addition to uniforms incorporating trousers or skirts, female pupils are also offered a uniform based on the Pakistani or Punjabi shalwar kameez with optional khimar. The school uniform was decided upon in consultation with local mosques, religious organisations and parents. The School considered the shalwar kameez ideal as it was worn by several faith groups and, accordingly, helped to minimise the differences between them.