Jewish school breaks Race Relations Act

A leading Jewish school, JFS in Brent, broke the Race Relations Act by refusing admission to a boy because his mother was not officially recognised as a Jew, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Three judges held that the entry criteria at JFS, formerly the Jews' Free School, in Brent, north-west London, racially discriminated against the boy, referred to as M.

The boy's father is Jewish by birth, but his mother is Jewish by conversion conducted at a Progressive rather than an Orthodox synagogue and therefore not recognised by the Office of the Chief Rabbi (OCR), Dr Jonathan Sacks.

It is a basic principle that a child is not recognised by the OCR and other bodies as Jewish unless his or her mother is Jewish.

JFS argued that its admissions policy giving preference to Jewish children when the school was oversubscribed was lawful because it was based on religious and not racial criteria.

But the judges said that "the requirement that if a pupil is to qualify for admission his mother must be Jewish, whether by descent or by conversion, is a test of ethnicity which contravenes the Race Relations Act".

The discrimination against M was direct discrimination and therefore could not be justified, said Lords Justices Sedley and Rimer and Lady Justice Smith.

Even if it had been indirect, "we consider its purpose to be selection on the basis of ethnicity and therefore not to constitute a legitimate aim".

After the judgment, solicitor John Halford, representing the boy's father, said: "We welcome the strong statement by the court that the fundamental right to equality before the law, regardless of race, applies to the admissions criteria of a faith school."

Mr Halford urged the state-maintained school to admit M, aged 12, immediately in the light of the judgment and not pursue a further appeal to the House of Lords.

He said: "We have never sought to interfere with the right of Orthodox Jews to define for their own religious purposes who they do or do not recognise as Jewish.

"However, it is unlawful for a child's ethnic origins to be used as the criterion for entry to a school.

"Such a practice is even more unacceptable in the case of a comprehensive school funded by the taxpayer." More