The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear two appeals involving a Trinity Western University’s efforts to have future graduates from its proposed law school accredited as lawyers.
More than one law society across the nation has refused to acknowledge TWU law school grads, which would mean they could not work in those provinces.
The Supreme Court will hear the university’s case against the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Law Society of British Columbia which is challenging the recent unanimous BC Court of Appeal decision in TWU’s favour.
The hearing of both appeals is expected late this year or early in 2018.
The dispute stems from private university’s Community Covenant, which bans sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual marriage, among other restrictions.
“We are pleased that leave was granted in this case so it can proceed to be heard at the Supreme Court of Canada. We believe that the Court will protect the TWU religious community, based on last year’s ruling of the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the 2001 Supreme Court of Canada decision involving Trinity Western University’s School of Education,” said TWU president Bob Kuhn.
The Law Society of Upper Canada refused to recognize graduates of TWU’s proposed School of Law after a vote in 2014. TWU took the law society to court, and in July 2015, a three-justice panel of the Ontario Divisional Court ruled against TWU even after finding that the university’s right to freedom of religion had been breached. TWU appealed, and the decision was presented in 2016.
The university won in court in this province, where an appeal court overturned the Law Society of British Columbia refusal to accredit its graduates, but lost in Ontario, where the law society refused accreditation.
The Nova Scotia Barristers Society lost twice in court against Trinity Western and has said it doesn’t plan to appeal.
The Supreme Court gave no reasons for deciding to hear the cases.
- With files from the Canadian Press