Borgarting Court of Appeal in Oslo. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB
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More than three years after Jehovah’s Witnesses excluded her from sexual immorality, Gry Helen Nygård has won. The exclusion is invalid, according to the Court of Appeal.
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– The Court of Appeal clearly states that if you accept everything in the name of religious freedom, this can lead to abuse. You have to set a limit somewhere, says Nygård’s legal counsel, lawyer Håkon Mathias Sterling Danielsen, to Our country.
After suffering defeat in Follo District Court, the woman has won in Borgarting Court of Appeal. The court concludes that the verdict committee’s decision on exclusion for “porneia” – sexual immorality – in 2018 was invalid. Nygård claims she was abused.
She has been one of Jehovah’s Witnesses since she was 16 years old. From the moment the expulsion was a fact, all contact with friends, her own children and the rest of the family in the faith community ceased.
Gets redress
Jehovah’s Witnesses – Ski congregation must cover Nygård’s legal costs totaling almost 900,000 kroner. In addition, the religious community is sentenced to pay Nygård 100,000 kroner.
– Nygård has received reparation on the basis of the defamation she was subjected to through an unlawful exclusion. This is a complete victory for us, says Danielsen.
The court has not found previous court decisions where the exclusion of a member – whether from Jehovah’s Witnesses or other denominations – has been a topic.
The majority of the judges believe that Nygård has not been able to safeguard his basic legal security, and rejects that legal treatment of the exclusion is an encroachment on freedom of religion and in violation of human rights.
Considering appeal
Jehovah’s Witnesses write in an email to the newspaper that they will review the court’s reasoning thoroughly before deciding whether to appeal the verdict – which was handed down during the dissent.
The congregation quotes Professor Dag Øistein Ensjø in Religious Studies at the University of Oslo: “It is not a human right to be a member of a religious community that refuses you to be a member. (…) Jehovah’s Witnesses will obviously be upheld in the Human Rights Court. One can not force a religious community to take back members they have excluded.
Lawyer Danielsen tells Vårt Land that he reckons that the case will go all the way to the Supreme Court.
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