Court Rules that Legal Society Didn’t Have Authority to Deny Christian School Accreditation over Beliefs
ICC Note: In 2014, Trinity Western University, a Christian school in Canada, was informed that they would not receive accreditation on account of their views of marriage and sexuality. Both staff and students must agree to follow a set of standards established by the university in order to work at or attend the university. The matter eventually reached the Nova Scotia Court of Appeals which ruled that the college did not act “unlawfully” and that these rules should not affect their status of accreditation.
By Heather Clark
07/27/2016 Canada (Christian News Network) – An appeals court in Nova Scotia has ruled that a legal society in the province did not have the authority to deny accreditation to a Christian law school over its biblical beliefs about the institution of marriage.
As previously reported, Trinity Western University had filed suit in October 2014 after the Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society (NSBS) refused to recognize graduates as being attorneys until the Christian institution changed its policy on sexuality.
“According to the Bible, sexual intimacy is reserved for marriage between one man and one woman, and within that marriage bond it is God’s intention that it be enjoyed as a means for marital intimacy and procreation,” the university policy reads. “Honoring and upholding these principles, members of the TWU community strive for purity of thought and relationship, respectful modesty, personal responsibility for actions taken, and avoidance of contexts where temptation to compromise would be particularly strong.”
Students and staff must sign a covenant committing to personally uphold these lifestyle standards.
Students and staff must sign a covenant committing to personally uphold these lifestyle standards.
In January 2015, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court found that the Society did not properly protect the religious freedom of the school as required by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“I have concluded that the NSBS did not have the authority to do what it did,” wrote Justice Jamie Campbell. “I have also concluded that even if it did have that authority it did not exercise it in a way that reasonably considered the concerns for religious freedom and liberty of conscience.”