The Law Society of Upper Canada Must Not Accredit Trinity Western University's Law School

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that the decisions by LSUC and NSBS not to accredit TWU law degrees are correct in law, and will withstand any legal challenge by TWU. We focus here on the LSUC decision in the Ontario context, but many of the arguments advanced below may be extended to the Nova Scotia case, where the NSBS operates pursuant to a similar statutory regime. We take no position on TWU’s law school proposal except in relation to the Covenant; the integrity of faith-based institutions generally is not examined here. Instead, we demonstrate that the relevant legal principles governing LSUC’s decision on whether to accredit TWU’s proposed law school required LSUC to reject the TWU proposal in its current form – that is, with the mandatory Covenant intact.

Keywords: lesbian and gay rights, accreditation, law school