A Canadian judge suspended Quebec’s niqab ban on Thursday deeming the prohibition ambiguous and confusing.
Since its introduction the ban has affected teachers, students, hospital employees and many other women in various professions.
The new rules which included arrangements for individuals to obtain religious exemptions were set to take effect on Sunday.
However, another judge on Thursday called the new regulations confusing and ambiguous and suspended implementation again while a court challenge goes ahead.
Quebec Superior Court Judge Marc-Andre Blanchard wrote in his ruling that the law appeared violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as it could cause Muslim women “irreparable harm.”
As of 2011 Quebec had about 243,000 Muslim residents out of a population of eight million, according to Statistics Canada.
So far France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and the German state of Bavaria have imposed bans on full-face veils in public places. Denmark plans to introduce its own ban in the near future.