Vancouver – At a special general meeting today, members of the Law Society voted to pass a resolution directing the Board of Governors, known as Benchers, to declare that Trinity Western University’s (TWU) law school is not an approved faculty of law for the purposes of the Law Society’s admissions program. The vote was 3,210 in favour and 968 opposed.
Under the Legal Profession Act, the resolution is not binding on the Benchers and does not reverse the Benchers’ decision made in April of this year, which permitted TWU’s law school graduates to enter the Law Society’s admissions program.
“The decision regarding whether to admit graduates from the proposed law school at TWU is a Bencher decision,” said President Jan Lindsay, QC. “However, the Benchers will give the result of today’s members meeting serious and thoughtful consideration.”
The Benchers made their decision on April 11 after thorough review and consideration of more than 800 pages of submissions, two reports of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, a number of legal opinions and the Supreme Court of Canada decision in a previous Trinity Western University case.
“This is a complex issue that engages many points of view,” Lindsay said. “There is currently litigation challenging the BC provincial government’s decision to approve a law school at TWU and litigation in Ontario and Nova Scotia challenging the decision by law societies there not to approve the proposed law school at TWU. Ultimately, I fully expect that the issues raised will be decided by the Supreme Court of Canada.”
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The Law Society of British Columbia regulates the more than 11,000 practising lawyers in the province, setting and enforcing standards of professional conduct that ensure the public is well-served by a competent, honourable legal profession.
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