Victory in court - Norway

[Keep Fighting]

The decisions to deny Jehovah’s Witnesses state funding and registration are invalid.

 

Vedtak om nekte Jehovas vitner statstilskudd og registrering er ugyldige

Decision declaring invalid the denial of state subsidies and registration for Jehovah’s Witnesses

Supreme Court judgment, 29 April 2026, HR‑2026‑1009‑A (Case no. 25‑089326SIV‑HRET), civil case, appeal from Borgarting Court of Appeal.

The case concerns the validity of five administrative decisions denying state subsidies and one decision deregistering Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious community, as well as the refusal to grant new registration.

The State argued that the community’s practice of social shunning violates children’s rights and members’ right to freely withdraw, cf. the Religious Communities Act §6 and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Article 9.

The Supreme Court reviewed the organization and teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, including the practice of disfellowshipping and social shunning, and the legal framework under the Religious Communities Act and freedom of religion under the ECHR.

The Court emphasized that the threshold for denying subsidies and registration is high, and that §6 must be interpreted in light of religious autonomy under ECHR Articles 9 and 11.

Children’s rights

The Court unanimously found that the State had not provided sufficient evidence that Jehovah’s Witnesses subject minors to psychological violence or negative social control of such severity that children’s legally protected rights are violated.

It emphasized internal guidelines for handling minors, that family bonds are not broken, and that there was no documented actual extent of disfellowshipping of children.

Right to free withdrawal

The Court assessed whether social shunning of former members violates the right to free withdrawal.

The Court found that Jehovah’s Witnesses meet the requirement of free and unconditional withdrawal under §2 of the Act.

A majority of three judges held that the practice does not constitute undue pressure in violation of ECHR Article 9. They emphasized that the practice is rooted in doctrine, known to members upon joining, and does not involve direct pressure, coercion, or threats. Gjeldende side

The practice does not apply to family members in the same household, and family bonds are not broken for relatives outside the household.

The majority concluded that the conditions for denying subsidies and registration were not met.

Dissent

Two judges dissented regarding whether the practice exerts undue pressure on members wishing to leave. They emphasized potential loss of contact with family members, especially minors, and that the practice is a rule‑based sanction intended to be a felt consequence. Gjeldende side

The minority therefore believed the conditions for denying subsidies and registration were met. They also found that the refusal to register constituted an interference with religious freedom under ECHR Article 9(1), but that the interference was justified. Gjeldende side

Clarification

The judgment clarifies the threshold for denying subsidies and registration of religious communities, and how the rules must be assessed in light of religious freedom under the ECHR.

Edited 7 hours ago by trottigy

[Dages]

Jehovah wins again

[Nils Ask]

Jehovahs Witnesses won victory over the government in the Norwegian Supreme Court.

[Nils Ask]

JIPPPPPPY!!!!

[Nelly Kim]

Yaaaay!!! Thank you Jehovah🤗

[Renan]

Yesss!

 

https://hrwf.eu/norway-the-supreme-court-dismisses-all-accusations-against-jehovahs-witnesses/

 

 

[Michał]

Great! Do you have a link for an article or press release?

[Nils Ask]

https://www.domstol.no/.../supreme-court.../HR-2026-1009-A/

You can try this link also: høyesterett.no

The news is quite new. We got it just 7 hours ago.

regards

Nils Ask

 

[Tronora]

Here is another thread about it already. Contains links

 

 

[Brandon]

Here’s the full decision (in Norwegian) in case anyone wanted it: https://www.domstol.no/globalassets/upload/hret/avgjorelser/2026/april/hr-2026-1009-a.pdf

[johnnyjw01]

It’s now on “breaking news”

[Skye]

https://www.jw.org/en/news/#newsAlerts

LEGAL VICTORY | Jehovah’s Witnesses Win Landmark Supreme Court Case in Norway

Edited Thursday at 09:07 PM by Skye

[Andress]

We are so happy for this in the Nordics. We all know that the way that our opposers presented how this works, regarding families and disfellowshipping was more lies then truth. So happy to see that educated and skilled people that not listen to ”bias” and ”non-proved opinions” still are existing in this strange world we live in today still exists.

Jehova has putten alot of wisdom in the human hearths, and still there are people with a honest heart, so wonderfull to see, jehova will not accept opposer win with their lies everywhere. 
still said abour Russia, and what lies our brothers have to handle, happy we did not get a new country copying that way of looking at people trying their best to follow the bible.

Edited Thursday at 09:26 PM by Andress

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

On our website:

https://www.jw.org/en/news/#newsAlerts

[jwhess]

4 hours ago, ➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone said:

On our website:

https://www.jw.org/en/news/#newsAlerts

It say the decision is 'Final' and cannot be appealed.

[Barbllm]

I was reading about this online yesterday, and I noticed this:

 

When it came to children's rights, the Supreme Court unanimously concluded that the State had not presented sufficient evidence that Jehovah's Witnesses in practice subject minor members to psychological violence or negative social control of such a severity that children's legally protected rights are violated. The court emphasized the internal guidelines for handling minors, that family ties are not broken, and that there was no documented actual extent of exclusions of children.

 

Furthermore, the Supreme Court considered whether the practice of social exclusion of former members violates the members' right to free withdrawal. The court held that Jehovah's Witnesses meet the requirement of free and unconditional withdrawal under Section 2 of the Religious Communities Act. The majority of three judges found that the practice of exclusion does not constitute undue pressure against members in violation of Article 9 of the ECHR. Among other things, it emphasized that the practice is rooted in the teachings of the religious community, is known to the members when they join, and does not involve direct pressure, coercion or threats. The practice of exclusion does not apply to family members in the same household. Family ties are not broken for family members outside the household. The majority subsequently found that the conditions for refusing state subsidies and registration under Section 6 of the Religious Communities Act were not met. The decisions to refuse funding and deregistration could therefore not be upheld.

 

I liked the point that "it is known to members when they join". You can't pretend that your being removed from the congregation was a surprise.

[doogle77]

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but it's a very fair summary of the case:

 

https://bitterwinter.org/jehovahs-witnesses-win-landmark-case-at-the-norwegian-supreme-court/