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SUPREME COURT OF CANADA GRANTS LEAVE IN TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY APPEALS

Supreme Court of Canada to decide on right of TWU’s future law school graduates to be accepted by law societies

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Trinity Western University welcomes today’s announcement that the Supreme Court of Canada has granted the University leave to appeal the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal.  The Court will hear the University’s case against the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Law Society of BC’s challenge to the recent unanimous BC Court of Appeal decision in TWU’s favour. The hearing of both appeals will likely occur late this year or early in 2018. 

"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," says Bob Kuhn, President of Trinity Western University.

Most jurisdictions in Canada have recognized Trinity Western University’s bid to establish and operate a School of Law as a positive step that increases the number of law school spaces in Canada. However, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the Law Society British Columbia, refused to recognize the academic credentials of future graduates of the proposed law school and TWU challenged these decisions. The cases in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario reached the provincial Courts of Appeal last year. While the courts ruled in favour of TWU in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, the court ruled in favour of the Law Society of Upper Canada in Ontario. Trinity Western University is seeking a final decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

Founded in 1962 as a private Christian post-secondary institution, Trinity Western University is fully accredited and offers liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media and culture. The law school is planning to become the first law school in Canada to focus on charity, small-business and entrepreneurial law.

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