On 4 December 2008, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) affirmed the legality of the ban. Although the cases dated prior to the 2004 law, the Court rationale was consistent with the law: the ECHR "held that the national authorities were obliged to take great care to ensure that (...) the manifestation by pupils of their religious beliefs on school premises did not take on the nature of an ostentatious act that would constitute a source of pressure and exclusion".