{"id":92307,"date":"2025-12-18T15:03:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T15:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:36:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:36:19","slug":"high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools","title":{"rendered":"High Court Dismisses Veil Case against Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>A High Court judge on Tuesday struck out a high-profile lawsuit aimed at forcing several schools to allow Muslim students to wear veils, ending a landmark religious rights case not on the merits of constitutional freedom, but on the rocky shoals of legal technicality.<\/b><\/p>\n

The ruling, delivered by Justice Jaiteh, struck out the consolidated civil suit filed by 12 applicants against five educational institutions, including St. Therese Upper Basic and St. Peter\u2019s Senior Secondary. In a stern rebuke from the bench, Justice Jaiteh characterized the litigation as \u201cfundamentally defective\u201d and an \u201cabuse of the judicial process.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the case had been watched closely as a test of religious expression under the 1997 Constitution, the court\u2019s decision centered on the \u201cincompetence\u201d of the filing. The applicants had sought not only a declaration of their right to wear the hijab but also 20 million dalasis (approximately $280,000) in compensation for emotional distress.<\/p>\n

The most significant hurdle for the applicants was the legal status of the schools themselves. Counsel for the Catholic mission schools, R.Y. Mendy, argued that the institutions were non-juristic persons\u2014entities that, because they are not incorporated under the Companies Act or created by statute, cannot legally sue or be sued.<\/p>\n

The applicants\u2019 counsel, B.S. Touray, countered that the schools held themselves out as legal entities through public signboards and administrative recognition by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.<\/p>\n

Justice Jaiteh was unmoved, invoking the legacy of the British jurist Lord Denning to emphasize that legal personality is a matter of law, not branding.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot make something into a legal person by calling it one,\u201d the judge noted, ruling that neither a signboard nor a ministry press release confers the right to be sued. Because the schools lacked incorporation certificates, the proceedings against them were declared a \u201cnullity ab initio\u201d\u2014void from the beginning.<\/p>\n

The court also found a \u201cfactual gap\u201d in the claims against Charles Jow Memorial Academy. Although the suit alleged that a student there had been prohibited from wearing a veil, Justice Jaiteh noted that the student in question was not a party to the suit, nor were the 12 applicants authorized to sue on her behalf.<\/p>\n

The judge struck out the action against the academy as \u201coppressive\u201d and \u201cspeculative,\u201d ruling that the court does not adjudicate \u201cabstract grievances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law does not permit parties to litigate vicariously or hypothetically on behalf of unnamed third parties who are not before the court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the identity of the defendants, Justice Jaiteh took aim at the \u201cmode of commencement.\u201d The case was filed via an \u201cOriginating Summons,\u201d a fast-track procedure reserved for cases where the facts are undisputed and only a point of law requires interpretation.<\/p>\n

However, because this case involved \u201chotly contested facts\u201d\u2014including the existence of actual bans and claims for massive damages\u2014the judge ruled it should have been filed as a \u201cWrit of Summons,\u201d which allows for the cross-examination of witnesses. Trying to resolve such a contentious matter through written affidavits alone, the judge said, was fundamentally wrong.<\/p>\n

In the case of Reverend J.C. Faye Memorial School, the court found the claims particularly thin. While one applicant was a student there, the court found no evidence she had been stopped from praying, expelled, or coerced. Justice Jaiteh noted that a school\u2019s religious ethos\u2014in this case, Anglican\u2014does not inherently constitute a constitutional violation.<\/p>\n

In his closing remarks, Justice Jaiteh issued a sharp warning to the legal practitioners involved, cautioning against \u201cprocedural experimentation\u201d and the wasting of judicial resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cLitigation is not a playground,\u201d the judge said. \u201cIt is a serious judicial enterprise that demands the highest level of professional care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court ordered the applicants to pay 50,000 dalasis in costs to each of the five schools. While the underlying question of the hijab in schools remains a flashpoint of public debate, for now, the gates of the court have been closed by the very rules meant to open them.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. A High Court judge on Tuesday struck out a high-profile lawsuit aimed at forcing several schools to allow Muslim students to wear veils, ending a landmark religious rights case not on the merits of constitutional freedom, but on the rocky shoals of legal technicality. The ruling, delivered by Justice Jaiteh, struck out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-92307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh Court Dismisses Veil Case against Schools - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A High Court judge on Tuesday struck out a high-profile lawsuit aimed at forcing several schools to allow Muslim stud ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High Court Dismisses Veil Case against Schools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A High Court judge on Tuesday struck out a high-profile lawsuit aimed at forcing several schools to allow Muslim stud ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T15:03:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T16:36:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1766062430.523777.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"High Court Dismisses Veil Case against Schools\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-18T15:03:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T16:36:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools\"},\"wordCount\":679,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1766062430.523777.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/high-court-dismisses-veil-case-against-schools\",\"name\":\"High Court Dismisses Veil Case against Schools - 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