The Court ruled in favour of TWU; accepting the argument that, as a private religious university, the school had the right to uphold its own code of conduct "even if the effect of that code is to exclude... or offend others" and attempting to force TWU to change its community covenant was an infringement on religious freedom. The ruling further noted that the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society already requires all lawyers to follow its Code of Professional Conduct, which forbids all discrimination, so the Community Covenant would not affect TWU graduates in their practice of law. The NSBS appealed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, but the appeals court upheld the previous decision.