March 21 - Dior's former chief designer John Galliano will find out on May 12 when he goes on trial here for allegedly making anti-Semitic slurs, judicial sources said Monday.

Designer John Galliano backstage at Dior's cruise 2009 show at Gustavino's

The date will be set by a Paris court and the trial could take place before the summer or later in the year.

Prosecutors have charged the Gibraltar-born, London-raised couturier with making racist and anti-Semitic remarks, a crime in France punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of 22,500 euros ($31,500).

The court will examine two complaints, one filed by a couple that claimed they were subjected to a drunken, anti-Semitic tirade from Galliano in a Paris cafe in late February.

The second comes from a 48-year-old woman who accused the British couturier of making racist remarks in October 2010.

Galliano, 50, one of the finest designers of his generation, was fired early this month by Dior over the complaint and then a mobile phone video showing him, apparently drunk at the same cafe, saying: "I love Hitler."

The British couturier had already been suspended by Dior late February after he was arrested and questioned by French police over his alleged anti-Semitic tirade in a Paris cafe.

Through his lawyers, Galliano apologised "unreservedly" for his behaviour, but denied "the claims made against me," as he reportedly checked into a rehab clinic in Arizona pending his court appearance .