The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld a ban by France on wearing the Muslim full-face veil - the niqab.
Ruling on a case brought by a 24-year-old French woman, who argued that the ban on wearing the veil in public violated her freedom of religion and expression, the court said the ban "was not expressly based on the religious connotation of the clothing in question but solely on the fact that it concealed the face".
The Strasbourg judges' decision is final - there is no appeal against it, the BBC reports.
A 2010 French law says nobody can wear clothing intended to conceal the face in a public space. The penalty for doing so can be a fine of 150 Euros, which translates into 120 pounds or 205 U.S. dollars.
A breach of the ban can also mean a wearer having to undergo citizenship instruction.
France has about five million Muslims - the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe - but it is thought only about 2,000 women wear full veils.
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A court statement said the ruling also "took into account the state's submission that the face played a significant role in social interaction".
However, some face coverings, including motorbike helmets, are exempted from the French ban.
The woman, identified only by the initials SAS, took her case to the European Court in 2011.
She said she was under no family pressure to wear the niqab, but chose to do so as a matter of religious freedom, as a devout Muslim.
France was the first European country in modern times to ban public wearing of the full-face veil. Belgium adopted a similar ban in 2011.
In Spain, the city of Barcelona and some other towns have brought in similar bans, as have some towns in Italy.
No such general ban applies in the UK, but institutions have discretion to impose their own dress codes.