E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.4 page 10 B. Freedom of conscience and neutrality in public services 36. The principle of the separation of Church and State implies two principles in the public services, which are not the object of formal legislation but are based on the jurisprudence of the Council of State (the administrative jurisdiction). 37. The principle of equality guarantees the freedom of conscience of civil servants. According to this principle, religion cannot be a criterion in the recruitment process and civil servants do not have to disclose their religious affiliation. 38. However, as a consequence of this principle, the civil servant is obliged to respect a duty of neutrality which means that he or she should abstain from any act that would challenge his neutrality. This includes the prohibition of wearing religious symbols while at work in public services, in particular when in a position of direct contact with the public. 39. Some interlocutors highlighted the often extreme ways in which this principle has been applied. It was raised, inter alia, that access to employment in public services was de facto barred for members of certain religious communities who consider the display of religious symbols as being an essential part of their faith. Moreover, it was also pointed out that the principle of neutrality in public services was sometimes wrongly applied to the public. In some of these cases, in addition to the judiciary, mechanisms such as HALDE have successfully intervened and proven to be a satisfactory remedy. V. FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE 40. Besides a few reported instances that may constitute violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief, most religious communities are generally satisfied with the level of freedom of religion or belief in France. 41. In terms of places of worship, the majority of complaints were received from the Muslim community, which was pointing to the shortage of mosques in France. This problem is allegedly partly due to the complexity of the legislation on the building of places of worship and the length of the related procedures. Some groups have also voiced concerns about difficulties related to burial places. 42. Regarding the level of religious tolerance within French society, the opinions are slightly more nuanced. Despite real efforts made by civil society in the field of interfaith dialogue,6 including by the French branch of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, there is still room for an important margin of improvement towards religious harmony. 43. On the basis of the information that has been provided to the Special Rapporteur, in particular with regard to cases of racism, anti-Semitism or xenophobia, it is difficult to make a distinction between those acts that have targeted certain groups or individuals primarily because of their religious beliefs and other types of acts. It is however indisputable that a proportion of these acts were directly related to the religion of the victims.