The decision by the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, was specific to the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet, but the decision is expected to set a legal precedent for the 30 or so resort towns that have issued similar decrees.
Photos circulated earlier in the week showed a woman on a beach in Nice being ordered to take her top off and fined by four armed policemen. Other women have described being accosted in similar ways while sunbathing.
Lawyers for two human rights groups challenged the legality of the ban, saying it infringed basic freedoms and that the towns’ mayors have far overstepped their powers by dictating what women can and can’t wear on beaches.
Patrice Spinosi, representing the Human Rights League, said women who have already received fines can protest them based on the court’s decision.
‘It is a decision that is meant to set legal precedent,’ he said. ‘Today all the ordinances taken should conform to the decision of the Council of State.
‘Logically the mayors should withdraw these ordinances. If not, legal actions could be taken against those towns.
‘Today the state of law is that these ordinances are not justified. They violate fundamental liberties and they should be withdrawn.’
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