By Beyza Binnur Donmez
GENEVA (AA) – An administrative court in France’s northern city of Lille overturned the regional prefect's decision to terminate the state contract of Averroes High School, effectively restoring its association agreement with the French state, the school's lawyer said Wednesday.
The ruling, which takes immediate effect, retroactively reinstates the full terms of the contract, allowing the private Muslim high school based in Lille to continue receiving public funding under the same conditions as before the termination.
"This is a decisive victory that brings an end to a legal battle initiated in October 2023," wrote Sefen Guez Guez, one of the school’s lawyers, in a statement posted on X. "It restores the honor of the Averroes school group."
The case stemmed from a controversial decision by the prefect of the Hauts-de-France region to end the school’s contract amid heightened political debate over secularism and radicalization in France's education system. The move had drawn criticism from civil society groups and legal experts, who viewed it as a disproportionate measure.
In its response to the ruling, the Averroes association that runs the school welcomed the court's decision as "a moment of appeasement and a victory for the rule of law," stressing the school’s commitment to academic excellence and its role in serving its students and the broader community.
The statement also condemned what it described as years of "relentless" targeting of the institution, emphasizing that the court's judgment was based on legal merits rather than political controversies.