Supreme Court of Canada
Photo Credit: Adrian Lee
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal in Trinity Western University v Law Society of Upper Canada and allowed the appeal in Law Society of BC v Trinity Western University
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on 15 June 2018 that the Law Societies of Upper Canada and British Columbia have a statutory duty to protect the public interest in promoting equal access to the legal profession, supporting diversity and preventing harm to members of the LGBTQ community and that the decisions to refuse accreditation of the proposed TWU law school on discriminatory admission and discipline policies (the Community Covenant) represented a proportionate balancing (Brown J. and Cote J. dissenting). LRWC intervened on international human rights law IHRL), submitting that the Covenant violated rights to equality, non-discrimination, privacy and freedom from coercion to hold or practice a belief of choice and that IHRL prohibits, and imposes duties on states and public bodies such as the Law Societies, to protect and prevent, infringement of these rights, by both state and non-state actors. LRWC had also intervened at the Ontario Court of Appeal. See decisions of the SCC and OCA at links below.
Law Society of BC v. Trinity Western University
https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/17140/index.do
Trinity Western University v the Law Society of Upper Canada
https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/17141/index.do
Trinity Western University v. the Law Society of Upper Canada
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2016/2016onca518/2016onca518.html?resultIndex=1
