(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, 27 FEB - Germany's highest court on Thursday upheld a ban on headscarves for Muslim trainee lawyers in courts, finding that the requirement of maintaining religious neutrality was justified. The Federal Constitutional Court's ruling came after a Frankfurt-born German-Moroccan legal trainee filed a challenge to Hesse state's rules. In the western state, trainees who keep their headscarves on are not allowed to take on tasks in which they may be seen to be acting as representatives of the judiciary or the state. This means for instance that headscarf-wearing trainees are not allowed to sit on the judges' bench as they observe proceedings like other trainees, but would need to follow the process from the floor. Likewise, they are not allowed to take evidence or lead hearings. Thursday's ruling was expected to impact a wider debate on the issue in Germany, where around 4.5 million Muslims live and where rules on use of the hijab headwear differ between the 16 federal states.(ANSA-AFP).