Jewish school's admissions policy contested in UK court
In ruling with far-reaching implications for Jewish day schools in kingdom, British Supreme Court rules that Orthodox Jewish school in London unlawfully discriminating against students on grounds of ethnic origin. Supreme Court president: Policy is unlawful, but does not stem from racism
The British Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a London Jewish day school used racist and discriminatory practices against a boy who was not accepted to the school because his mother is not considered Jewish by Orthodox Jewish law, the British Broadcasting Authority reported.
According to the court ruling, the school's policy of measuring students' Jewish identity based solely on Orthodox Jewish law is unlawful and breaks race relations legislation.
Earlier this year, an appeals court ruled that the Jews' Free School, located northwest of London in Brent, was racist when it denied admission to a 12-year-old boy whose father is Jewish and mother underwent a Reform conversion that is not recognized by Orthodox law. The school took the case to the Supreme Court in order to overturn the appellate court's ruling.
Supreme Court president Lord Phillips said the justices had ruled five to four in favor of the ruling.
"The majority of the court has concluded that the JFS admission policy does discriminate on the grounds of ethnic origin and is, in consequence, unlawful," he said. "A minority disagrees, considering that the admission requirement is exclusively a religious requirement and does not depend on ethnic origin."
Lord Phillips emphasized that though the school's policy was found unlawful, that it must not be seen as racist.
"The majority have made it plain in their judgments that the fact that the JFS admission policy has fallen foul of the Race Relations Act certainly does not mean those responsible for the admissions policy have behaved in a way that is racist, as that word as generally understood," Lord Phillips explained.
The father of the boy noted that it is illegal to cite someone's ethnic background as a means for not accepting them into school, mentioning that this is particularly egregious when the school is funded by taxpayers.
Reportedly, the children of atheists, and practicing Christians, were allowed to attend the school as long as their mothers were considered Jewish.
