BySimon Rocker, Simon Rocker
In 2007, an 11-year-old boy was refused a place at JFS because his mother was a non-Orthodox convert and, therefore, not Jewish according to the Chief Rabbi’s Office.
Schools are permitted to give preference to children on the basis of religion, but not of ethnic origin.
When the boy’s father went to the High Court last year, the judge said that JFS had made its decision on religious grounds.
But the Court of Appeal ruled that deciding entry on the basis of a parent’s Jewish status involved ethnicity and so was unlawful.
Lord Justice Sedley (who is Jewish), Lady Justice Smith and Lord Justice Rimer wrote: “The requirement that if a pupil is to qualify for admission his mother must be Jewish, whether by descent or conversion, is a test of ethnicity which contravenes the Race Relations Act 1976.”