CJEU, 28 November 2023, Case C-148/22, Commune d’Ans

In a case concerning the Commune d’Ans in Belgium, the Court of Justice upheld religious neutrality policies in force at local authorities, which allow a municipality to ban any of its staff from wearing any visible signs which might reveal their religious beliefs, regardless of whether they are in contact with the public (see Discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief). The judgment also echoes a recent news story: a resolution passed by the municipal council of Anderlecht – a municipality within the Brussels conurbation – which approves the principle of allowing visible signs of beliefs to be worn by holders of all positions within its administration, adding that the same may also apply to “the choice of another public administration, depending on that administration’s own context and within the framework of its competences, in favour of another policy of neutrality, such as a general and undifferentiated permission for the wearing of visible signs of beliefs – philosophical or religious in particular – including in contacts with users, or a prohibition on the wearing of such signs limited to situations involving such contacts” (see press release).