By Harinder Mahil

A Sikh lawyer Prabhjot Singh Wirring has won an important case against the Alberta Law Society and province of Alberta at the Alberta Court of Appeal. The Court unanimously ruled December 16, 2025 that requiring prospective lawyers to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the monarch is unconstitutional and infringes on religious freedoms

Prabhjot Singh Wirring completed his articles in 2022 and sought admission to the Alberta Bar. Section 44(2)(a) of Alberta’s Legal Profession Act required the Oath of Allegiance while section 1(1) of Alberta’s Oaths of Office Act, 2000 prescribed its content. Wirring refused to take the Oath and commenced legal action alleging that the oath of allegiance infringed his right to freedom of religion under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and discriminated against him based on religion and race. He also took the position that the Oath forced him to choose between practicing law in the province and respecting his religious commitments as an amritdhari Sikh.

Wirring took the position that he had sworn an oath to his God, Akal Purakh, which he believed took precedence over all other loyalties in his life.

Wirring decided to go to Saskatchewan to be called to the bar, where new lawyers are not required to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch. From there, he transferred his licence to practice law into Alberta, a process that also has no oath requirement.

He launched an action against the Alberta Law Society and the province of Alberta, but his action was dismissed by the Court of King’s Bench in 2023. The judge ruled that the required oath did not substantially interfere with Wirring’s ability to follow his religion but addressed Canada’s system of constitutional government.

Wirring filed an appeal with the Alberta Court of Appeal. Alberta Law Society took no position on the appeal. Alberta’s position was that the oath was directed at unwritten unconstitutional principles and not the monarch themself.

The Court of Appeal declared that section 44(2)(a) of the Legal Profession Act was unconstitutional and of no force or effect. Although the appeal court determined the appeal is moot because Wirring had become a member of the Alberta bar in December 2023 without taking the oath of allegiance via an interprovincial licence transfer process, it chose to determine the issue of freedom of religion.

The appeal court found that Mr. Wirring believed his religious commitments prevented him from taking the oath of allegiance to anything and perceived allegiance as a strict commitment or devotion over religious or other commitments. The Court saw no evidentiary basis to support Alberta’s position or justification. Without such evidence, the appeal court found no benefits in requiring the oath that might outweigh its negative effects on Mr. Wirring’s right to religious freedom.

“This case shows the real possibility that candidates with religious objections to the Oath of Allegiance may choose not to become members of the Alberta bar diminishing the bar’s representativeness,” the decision said.

The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), which intervened in the case, welcomed the court’s decision deeming the oath of allegiance unconstitutional. The BCCLA described this finding as a significant victory for prospective lawyers of various religious faiths, as well as prospective Indigenous lawyers

The oath of allegiance is optional in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Yukon and Ontario. It has been removed entirely in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

It is an extremely interesting case involving religious beliefs of Sikh lawyers or those of other faiths who may object to the oath of allegiance. It is possible that Alberta may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. If it chooses to do so, it has 60 days to challenge the Appeal Court’s ruling.

Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist and is secretary of Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation.

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Harinder Mahil

I respectfully acknowledge that I live on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded land of the Kwikwetlem First Nation that lies within the shared traditional territories of the Tsleil-Waututh, Katzie, Musqueam, Squamish, Quay Quayt and Sto:lo