Judgment No. CCZ 7/16 2
Const. Application No. CCZ 17/15
for costs against the first and second respondents on a legal practitioner and client scale.
The first and second respondents are opposed to the application and aver that it be
dismissed with costs. The third and fourth respondents have indicated that they will abide
by the Court’s decision.
The Background
Before 2015 the long-established practice at the School was to commence
the day with prayers in the School chapel. Pupils were free to attend if they so wished and
a separate room was set aside for those of other faiths who did not attend chapel on
religious grounds. This inter-denominational position was confirmed by the School’s
website on the internet.
The applicants and their daughters are all practising Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Their beliefs are not similar to those of other Christian denominations. Upon application
to the School for the admission of their daughters, each of the applicants completed a
standard application form in which they indicated that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Their daughters were duly accepted for admission.
At the beginning of 2015, a new Headmistress was appointed to run the
School. She sought to introduce compulsory chapel attendance for all pupils at the School
in order to reinforce its collegiality. The applicants wrote several letters to the
Headmistress as well as the School’s lawyers to register their complaints. On
17 March 2015, after taking legal advice, the Headmistress wrote to the applicants