On 29 April 2026 The Supreme Court of Norway ruled in a 3–2 judgment (HR-2026-1009-A, case no. 25-089326SIV-HRET) that decisions to deny Jehovah’s Witnesses state funding and registration were invalid. The Centre for Law and Religious Freedom at Jagiellonian University and the Religious Freedom Clinic at Harvard Law School filed an amicus curiae brief in this case!​

In our amicus brief we were asking the Supreme Court of Norway to protect the „basic principle of European human rights law that religious communities are entitled to organise their internal life, define their own membership, and enforce their own moral codes free from state control”. The Court today agreed with our brief, outlining „Jehovah’s Witnesses’ organisation and doctrine, including the practice of disfellowshipping (exclusion) and social shunning of former members, as well as the legal framework under the Religious Communities Act and the protection of freedom of religion under the ECHR. The Court emphasised that the threshold for refusing state funding and registration is high, and that section 6 must be interpreted in the light of the autonomy of religious communities under Article 9 of the ECHR, read in conjunction with Article 11.”

Religious freedom under Article 9 must therefore be understood in light of the freedom to form religious communities, which is also protected against state interference, cf. Article 11. Members’ collective religious practice is often based on rules and rituals that they believe have a divine origin. The religious community’s autonomy is both a prerequisite for a pluralistic democratic society and for safeguarding the members’ individual freedom of religion.

Read the judgment from the Supreme Court (in Norwegian only).

See our 14-page Amicus Curiae brief to the Supreme Court of Norway in the case Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Norway.

An English translation of the judgment will be provided. Below you can download an unofficial English translation.