Equality Rights, Freedom of Religion and the Training of Canadian Lawyers

17 Legal Ethics, 2014, Forthcoming

8 Pages Posted: 6 Oct 2014

See all articles by Alice Woolley

Alice Woolley

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: September 26, 2014

Abstract

Should lawyers be trained at law schools that effectively exclude LGBTQ applicants? In Canada prior to 2013, the universally secular and public system of legal education meant this issue never arose. But in 2013 Trinity Western University (TWU), which requires its students to promise to refrain from “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman,” received approval to open a law school. The Canadian legal profession has divided on the question of whether this requirement ought to preclude TWU graduates from being admitted to the profession. This comment reviews the response of the profession to TWU to date and suggests the significant challenges TWU’s covenant presents for equality rights and religious freedoms, for inter-provincial cooperation in lawyer regulation, and for the proper scope of lawyer regulation.

Keywords: Legal Ethics, Equality, Freedom of Religion

Suggested Citation

Woolley, Alice, Equality Rights, Freedom of Religion and the Training of Canadian Lawyers (September 26, 2014). 17 Legal Ethics, 2014, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2502209

Alice Woolley (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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