Supreme Court of Canada to hear case on requiring oath to the Crown for lawyer admission

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a case challenging whether requiring prospective lawyers to swear an Oath of Allegiance to the reigning monarch is constitutional.

The decision comes after Alberta's Court of Appeal ruled in December that the requirement violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and infringes on religious freedom. The appeal court said the oath forced Amritdhari Sikh Prabjot Wirring to choose between practising law in Alberta and his faith.

Wirring originally challenged the oath in June 2022, arguing he had sworn allegiance to Akal Purakh, the Creator in the Sikh faith, and could not pledge allegiance or devotion to any other figure or entity. "I knew from Day 1, because of my faith as a Sikh and because of my own integrity and my values, I wasn't going to be able to take this oath," he said.

Wirring said the case extends far beyond his circumstances. "Forcing Indigenous and racialized communities, who have been impacted by the violence of colonialism, to have to swear an Oath of Allegiance to be able to practice law and practice their profession is deplorable and very problematic."

An Alberta judge dismissed his suit in 2023, but the Appeal Court's three-judge panel overturned that decision last year, making the oath no longer a requirement in Alberta. The Appeal Court found the previous judge erred in deciding Wirring could swear the oath as an allegiance to an abstract ideal rather than to an entity like the Queen or King.

Wirring eventually became a member of the Law Society of Alberta in 2023 after transferring from Saskatchewan through an interprovincial licensing process introduced several months after he challenged the oath.

The Appeal Court suggested Alberta could remedy the issue by making the oath optional, as it is in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Yukon, and Ontario; removing it entirely, as B.C., Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan have done; or revising the oath's wording.

Alberta's government appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. The province said in a statement it is pleased the court granted leave and is unable to comment further because the matter remains before the courts.