The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society has announced it won't challenge a ruling by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal which found the provincial association of lawyers was wrong to boycott the proposed Trinity Western University (TWU) law school.
On Monday, the association released a press release that said with the benefit of advice from legal counsel, the executive committee has decided to "take the matter no further."
“The Society remains deeply committed to equity and diversity in Nova Scotia’s legal profession,” Society president Daren Baxter said.
“These issues are clearly important to members of the profession and the public across the province. The Society will continue making it a priority to advance equality and diversity issues in the practice of law.”
On July 26, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal upheld the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruling in favour of TWU.
The decision found the Barristers’ Society went beyond its authority in 2014 when it refused to recognize TWU law graduates.
At issue was the TWU community covenant, which requires students and staff to promise to abstain from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman."
The Court ruled against the regulation relating to the Society’s conditional approval of TWU’s law school.
The Monday statement said that regulation will be amended to comply with the Court’s decision.
Law societies in Ontario and British Columbia have also taken issue with the proposed law school because of the covenant.
In June, the Ontario Court of Appeal found in favour of the Law Society of Upper Canada and TWU said it will likely appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Law Society of British Columbia is waiting for a decision from the appeal court in that province.
The TWU law school was approved by the B.C. advanced education minister in 2013, who then withdrew that approval in 2014 because of the controversy over the covenant.