Wall v Judicial Committee of the Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Administrative law – Religious institutions – Expansion of judicial review to churches if property rights impacted by church decision – Jehovah’s Witness congregation expelling realtor who subsequently lost half his business as Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to do business with him – Whether Court can review church decision because of impact on business if church did not follow rules of natural justice The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the courts have jurisdiction to hear an application for judicial review of a decision by a Jehovah’s Witness congregation to expel a certain member if there is an issue of property and civil rights and an allegation that the rules of natural justice have not been met. Randy Wall is a real estate agent in Calgary, Alberta, who was expelled from his Jehovah’s Witness congregation on allegations of drunkenness. This resulted in a significant loss of business for Wall, as many of his clients were Jehovah’s Witnesses who would no longer do business with him or associate with him after his expulsion. He therefore argued that his property rights were affected by the expulsion.

Allegation · Appeal · Economic Justice · Estate · Jurisdiction · Natural justice · Political science · Property rights · Witness · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment