Big win for Canadian Christian law school

A Canadian high court has restored the Law Society of British Columbia’s 2014 decision to recognize future graduates of Trinity Western University’s (TWU) law school, a major victory for religious freedom in Canada.

“Trinity Western University is celebrating the British Columbia Supreme Court’s recognition of true Canadian diversity today,” the school said in a statement.

The decision marks another turning point in TWU’s years-long battle to open the country’s first Christian law school. The B.C. Law Society overwhelmingly approved the proposed law school for accreditation in April 2014, but the members later voted to reverse the decision under pressure from LGBT activists, who said the school’s policy against homosexual practice would produce incompetent lawyers.

In a 43-page opinion, B.C. Chief Justice Christopher E. Hinkson cited the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2001 ruling that the British Columbia College of Teachers could not withhold accreditation from TWU graduates based on the school’s beliefs on marriage.

“Although the [B.C. Law Society] contends that the decision does not infringe on TWU’s right to freedom of religion, the evidence in this case and the relevant precedents conclusively establish that the decision does infringe the petitioners’ Charter right to freedom of religion,” Hinkson wrote.

Hinkson recognized the law society has “broad statutory authority” to approve or disapprove academic qualifications, but he chided the society for making the reversal “without any substantive discussion or debate.” He said the governing board members (called “benchers”) “wrongfully fettered their discretion” and ceded their authority to members who did not properly weigh all the relevant facts and rights.

“The court ruled that the benchers denied TWU the opportunity to present its case during their deliberations and to have its submissions fairly and fully considered,” said Geoffrey Trotter, co-counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. “The benchers wrongly bound themselves to a referendum of all B.C. lawyers in which there was no evidence that the voting members gave any consideration to the Charter rights of TWU and its students.”

Ultimately, Hinkson wrote that his decision based on process made it “unnecessary” to rule on the potential “collision” of the rights of the school and LGBT persons. The B.C. Law Society could appeal the decision to the B.C. Court of Appeals, but it could also attempt to use an appropriate process to again reverse the April 2014 decision.

TWU, located in Langley, B.C., is the largest Christian university in Canada. It wants to open a law school that would focus on charity, small business, and entrepreneurial law, three areas it feels are underserved by the country’s current law schools.

No TWU student has ever brought a claim of discrimination against the school. On Thursday, TWU reiterated it remains open to all LGBT persons who are willing to commit to the school’s community covenant, which asks faculty, staff, and students to abstain from sexual intimacy outside of traditional marriage.

Two other provincial decisions related to TWU’s law school are still pending, but Thursday’s decision was particularly important since it came in the school’s home province. Many suspect the case may eventually end up at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Even though the case appears to re-litigate settled law, LGBT advocates have argued the cultural shifts on same-sex marriage (which Canada legalized in 2005) require a new legal precedent. Many religious freedom advocates see TWU’s battle as a bellwether for religious freedom in North America.

Benjamin Bull, executive director of Alliance Defending Freedom International, called Thursday’s decision an “immense victory.”

“This case may well represent the beginning of the end of viewpoint based-discrimination against Christians and Christian institutions in Canada,” Bull said. “No one—including Christians—can be banned from their profession because they hold biblically based views, and no Christian institution of higher education can be sanctioned because it reflects essential tenets of the Christian religion.”