Supreme court to rule on Jews' Free School
Updated on 16 December 2009
The supreme court will today pass judgement on whether a child whose mother converted to Judaism should be allowed to attend Britain's most successful Jewish school.
The court of appeal said earlier this year that the school's admissions criteria were unlawful because it prioritised applications from children with Jewish mothers.
Last month the Jewish Free School (JFS) in north west London told the supreme court it was not guilty of racial discrimination.
JFS has been taken to court because it prevented a boy from attending. The boy’s father was Jewish and his mother had converted to Judaism.
The school says that as the conversion of the mother is not recognised by the Office of the Chief Rabbi, her status as a Jewish person cannot be confirmed. The Chief Rabbi cannot recognise a conversion unless it is performed in an orthodox Jewish ceremony.
As a result, the school refuses to allow the child to attend. For a child to attend the school, the mother has to be Jewish by birth, or by conversion recognised by the OCR.
The school's principal argument is that at a time when places are oversubscribed, it is reasonable to give priority to children of Jewish backgrounds. But critics say that, as a faith school, JFS is simply discriminating against another race.
The supreme court's judgement will have far-reaching implications on Jewish schools and faith schools as a whole.
