The Supreme Court of Norway has ruled that the government’s decision to deregister Jehovah’s Witnesses as an entity and deny the group state funding violated its right to religious freedom. 

The apex court ruled in favour of the community on Thursday, April 30, overturning an imposed deregistration and grant ban imposed by the Norwegian government.

“This positive decision resulted from the court thoroughly reviewing our bible-based beliefs and practices and determining that they are fully in harmony with Norwegian and international law. This ruling is final and cannot be appealed,” the religious group stated in an update on its official website.

The case, which began in 2021, followed a petition by a former member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Rolf Johan Furuli, addressed to the Norwegian Ministry of Children and Family Affairs.

The complainant objected to the religious community’s practice of instructing its members to dissociate from former members expelled for committing grave offences and individuals who had openly dissociated from the community. 

At the time, the Norwegian government responded to the petition by denying the religious community access to state subsidies, which it had previously enjoyed for 30 years under Section 16 of the Norwegian constitution.

The country’s apex court ruled that the Norwegian government could not demonstrate how Jehovah’s Witnesses’ practice of shunning ex-members constituted coercion, psychological violence and negative social control.