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A coalition of Muslim and human rights groups have launched a court challenge of the Quebec law that bans face-coverings from public services, arguing it goes against both the Quebec and Canadian Charters of Rights and Freedoms.

Filed on behalf of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), the application for judicial review of Bill 62 — the so-called burka ban — also names as a plaintiff Marie-Michelle Lacoste, a Quebec woman who converted to Islam in 2003 and now goes by the name Warda Naili.

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In the short term, the motion filed in Superior Court calls for a court order to suspend the legislation. Lawyer Catherine McKenzie says she hopes the court will hear arguments to stop the application of the law as early as next Wednesday.

It is urgent, she said, given the impact the law is already having on an unknown number of women.

Section 10 of Bill 62 — called “An Act to foster adherence to State religious neutrality and, in particular, to provide a framework for requests for accommodations on religious grounds in certain bodies” — bars anyone from giving or receiving a public service with their faces covered.