West Coast LEAF will intervene at the BC Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) to call for discrimination-free entry to BC’s legal profession, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or marital status.
We were recently granted permission from the BCCA to intervene in Law Society of British Columbia v Trinity Western University and Brayden Volkenant, the ongoing case about Trinity Western University’s (“TWU”) proposed law school admission policy.
Late last year, the BC Supreme Court (“BCSC”) set aside the Law Society’s decision to deny the accreditation of a proposed law school at TWU on the basis that the Law Society did not properly exercise its discretion and failed to adequately weigh the competing rights at stake. West Coast LEAF intervened at the BCSC to argue in support of the Law Society’s decision to deny accreditation to TWU’s law school. We argued then, and will argue again, that the Law Society’s decision reflects a proper weighing of the rights at stake by upholding the fundamental right to equality enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
TWU requires students and faculty to sign a community covenant which prohibits sexual expression outside a heterosexual marriage relationship. The covenant also restricts the reproductive rights of TWU students and faculty. Noncompliance with the requirements of the covenant may result in expulsion from the university or other sanctions. West Coast LEAF maintains that law schools must be accessible regardless of an applicant’s sexual orientation, marital status or gender.
Read more about our work on this case, including the arguments we made at the BCSC, and our argument for leave to intervene at the BCCA.
The case will be heard by the BCCA on June 1-3, 2016.