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CanadaConfirmed

Ontario's Court of Appeal upholds refusal to certify Jehovah's Witnesses child-abuse class action against Watchtower Canada

Illustration: a tied stack of legal pleadings beside a single closed volume on an appellate bench before three empty judges' chairs

In Gutierrez v. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Canada, a unanimous three-judge panel ruled on 23 September 2026 that the proposed class action disclosed no valid legal claim against the Society, holding that spiritual authority alone is not enough to create a legal duty of care, and upheld the finding that a class action was not the preferable procedure. It left in place the unchallenged finding that the unnamed Canada Branch was a necessary party. The court did not rule on whether any abuse occurred.

· September 23, 2026 · 15 min read

PennsylvaniaConfirmed

Pennsylvania court grants Jehovah's Witness elders a clergy-privilege declaration — because the state never contested it

Illustration: one empty lectern facing another stacked with briefs, over an open statute book with a blank column and an untouched gavel

After nearly six years of litigation, the Commonwealth Court gave the Ivy Hill Congregation the declaration it asked for on 27 February 2026, while expressly declining to decide whether its elders actually qualify for the privilege. Two judges dissented, calling the result "judicial legislation by default."

· February 27, 2026 · 10 min read

Leaked documentsConfirmed

The Jehovah's Witnesses' secret elders' manual leaked online in 2019

Illustration: a manual with a broken seal and loose pages

The confidential 274-page "Shepherd the Flock of God" — which governs the Witnesses' judicial committees, the two-witness rule, and disfellowshipping — was leaked and published, exposing the internal disciplinary system to public view.

· February 5, 2019 · 2 min read