The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that law societies in Ontario and British Columbia can deny accreditation to an evangelical Christian law school due to its stance on homosexuality.
The court concluded that the law societies were within their right to withhold licenses from graduates of Trinity Western University's (TWU) proposed law school in Langley. B.C.
'Limiting access to membership in the legal profession on the basis of personal characteristics, unrelated to merit, is inherently inimical to the integrity of the legal profession,' the judges wrote, according to The Globe and Mail.
The law societies have denied accreditation to the proposed law school because of TWU's 'community covenant,' which prohibits students from engaging in sexual relations outside of heterosexual marriage.
TWU, which describes itself as the largest independent Christian liberal arts institution in Canada, had proposed to create the law school in 2012.
The school has been approved by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, but the law societies of Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia have refused to grant accreditation due to the university's policy on sexuality.
The three societies have argued that granting accreditation to the school may amount to an endorsement of discrimination and harm the reputation of the justice system.
The legal battle over the denial of accreditation yielded mixed results in lower courts. According to The Globe and Mail, Ontario's top court sided with the province's law society, describing the university's covenant as 'degrading.'
In British Columbia, the appeals court voted 5-0 in favor of the university, arguing that the school's religious freedom was at stake in the case.
The appeals court in Nova Scotia also sided with the school, but the provincial law society decided not to appeal the decision.
Five Supreme Court justices contended that the restriction on the school's religious freedom was minimal because the university did not portray the covenant as necessary to its students' religious beliefs.
A sixth judge, Justice Malcolm Rowe, argued that the case is not about freedom of religion because the school is open to all, and its policy would constrain non-believers.
Chief justice Beverley McLachlin stated in her final decision that the religious freedom restriction was a major issue, but she contended that the limit was justifiable to maintain equality.
TWU declared the Supreme Court ruling in a statement released on Friday. 'Until now, Canada has encouraged the rich mosaic created by the diversity of views, race, gender, and belief systems. Sadly, the Supreme Court has decided that this does not extend to a law school at Trinity Western University,' the statement read, as reported by The Christian Post.
