Prayer ban at Katharine Birbalsingh’s school is lawful, High Court rules

A prayer ban imposed at Katharine Birbalsingh’s school is lawful, a High Court judge has ruled.

Michaela Community School in Brent, north-west London, has defended a legal challenge from a Muslim pupil, who claimed the school’s ban on prayer rituals was discriminatory.

The prayer ritual policy did not “interfere” with the pupil’s freedom to manifest her religious beliefs, according to a ruling handed down on Tuesday.

The pupil had chosen the school knowing of its strict regime and could have chosen to attend a different school that would have allowed her to pray at lunchtime, the ruling found.

In his written ruling, Mr Justice Linden said the prayer policy was “a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims” of the school and was therefore justified.

He found that the disadvantage to Muslim pupils was outweighed by the aims which it seeks to promote in the interests of the school community as a whole, including Muslim pupils.

However, the judge upheld the pupil’s challenge to a decision to temporarily exclude her from the school after allegations by fellow pupils about comments she had made.

He said the pupil ought to have been asked for her version of events before the head teacher excluded her.