BERLIN, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Some German politicians are pushing for a complete ban on headscarves for judges, calling such dress a "declaration of war" on the legal system.
Andreas Gramm, spokesman for the conservative Christian Democrats told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung a judge wearing a headscarf is "a declaration of war on the foundations of our (legal) system."
"Political action symbols do not correspond with the spirit of our modern legal state," Gramm added.
Ruling Social Democratic Party members have also spoken out against headscarves in the courtroom, which they say are associated with fundamentalist Islamic beliefs. Some have said belief in Islamic law is incompatible with service in the German court system.
The far left PDS party has aligned itself against a headscarf ban, saying such a move would increase tension between German Muslims and other Germans unnecessarily.
The German newspaper Tagesspiegel reports at least two female lay judges wear headscarves on the bench in Berlin. In the German legal system, decisions by lay judges carry the same weight as those made by full judges.
