Today, Norway is the world center for all of us who fell outside

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They have come from the United States, Spain, and Iceland to sit in Norway’s Supreme Court and follow the case between the state and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Amalie Sande Henden– JournalistJournalist

Published today at 11:23 Updated 40 minutes ago

The case summarized

• The trial between the state and Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Supreme Court is about freedom of religion, children’s rights, and the right to free withdrawal.
• The state has withdrawn Jehovah’s Witnesses’ state support and registration as a religious community, citing their practice of exclusion.
• Former members from several countries are following the case closely and sharing their stories of exclusion and social control.
• Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the accusations are stigmatizing and incorrect, and that their religious freedom is threatened.
• A decision from the Supreme Court is expected in a few weeks, and the outcome may have consequences beyond this case.

– The entire community is following Norway. Today, this is the world center for all those who have fallen outside.

This is what former member of Jehovah’s Witnesses Jan Frode Nilsen tells NRK.

On Monday, he was present in the courtroom in Oslo, which in recent days has been a meeting place for former members from Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Spain and the United States.

What they have in common is that they are all disfellowshipped members of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The background to the trial is the dispute between the state of Norway and the religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The central question is: Does the organization violate the right to opt out and children’s rights?

– Here our voices are heard

On Monday, Jan Frode Nilsen was first in line to be admitted to the final day of the trial, where Jehovah’s Witnesses gave their testimony.

From the court, he translated what was happening from Norwegian to English and posted it in a thread on Reddit.

Thousands of people around the world read what he has written.

Nilsen is happy that the state has taken the matter seriously.

– I’m just happy that one place in the world, in one country, in one court, our voices are being heard.

Surreal

On Monday, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ side of the issue was on the agenda.

Nilsen, who lives in Risør, describes the experience as tough and surreal.

– I felt like just standing up and screaming, and saying that this is not our story. This is not my experience. This is not my life.

This is not the first time Nilsen has been in court. He has testified three times in four years.

He has explained how he experienced losing those closest to him due to the organization’s practices.

This is the case

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they cannot be denied state support based on the religious community not acting as the state wishes, as long as the actions are an exercise of their religious beliefs.

The religious community’s lawyers also argue that withdrawing its registration as a religious community would be in violation of international law and international obligations.

They believe their practices fully respect the rights and freedom of others.

The state

The state, for its part, claims that the exclusion practice violates the right to opt out.

They believe that the opt-out practice can lead to losing contact with family and friends in the organization.

The state also believes that the religious community exercises negative social control over children.

The process

Jehovah’s Witnesses are in the Supreme Court because the state has appealed the verdict from the Court of Appeal in 2025.

There, Jehovah’s Witnesses prevailed with their vision.

The state – through the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs – believes the case raises such important questions of principle that it must be decided by the country’s highest court.

The religious community had previously lost the first round of litigation in the district court in March 2024.

The Supreme Court is hearing the case over three days. The last day of court is Monday, February 9.

It will take weeks before a decision is made.

Withdrawn the government subsidy

It all started with the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken in 2022 depriving Jehovah’s Witnesses of state subsidies and public registration as a religious community in Norway.

The background was the religious community’s practice of

exclusion, which the then state administrator believed violated human rights.

This has led to several rounds of litigation.

Initially, the state won in the district court, but Jehovah’s Witnesses appealed the case and emerged victorious in the Court of Appeals.

Now the dispute has reached the Supreme Court.

Here, the religious freedom of Jehovah’s Witnesses must be weighed against members’ right to withdraw and children’s protection from negative social control.

After the last words are said in court on Monday, it is expected that it will take weeks before a conclusion is reached.

“High stakes”

The state believes that the practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses violate the Religious Communities Act on two key points:

• The right to free withdrawal.
• Violation of children’s rights.

– The state is playing it safe here by not only wanting to take away state support, but also the recognition itself.

This is what Dag Øistein Endsjø, a religious scholar and human rights expert, says.

He believes the Supreme Court will follow the Court of Appeals, where Jehovah’s Witnesses emerged victorious.

– Unlucky

The practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses is that if an adult resigns from Jehovah’s Witnesses, those who are still members of the community should keep their distance and tone down contact.

Even if you are in a family.

– This is unfortunate, but not in violation of human rights, says Endsjø.

He says the case hinges on the relationship with minors.

– It is a somewhat strange claim from the state that Jehovah’s Witnesses must lose their religious rights because they violate children’s rights, something they have not proven has happened. If this were in fact the case, then the state is obliged to intervene directly.

These are Jehovah’s Witnesses

• Jehovah’s Witnesses are a religious denomination. They teach that the Bible is a message from God (Jehovah), written down by divinely inspired writers. Therefore, the Bible is understood to be the infallible and reliable word of God.
• Jehovah’s Witnesses have over 8.5 million members in around 120,000 congregations in 240 countries.
• The number of active publishers in Norway in 2019 was just under 12,000, distributed among around 167 congregations.
• Jehovah’s Witnesses consider the Bible to be the word of God and believe that they are living in an “end time” before an earthly paradise.
• Members do not celebrate Christmas, Easter, May 17, or birthdays. They reject blood transfusions. They do not participate in politics or military service.
• The congregations are led by “elders”, and only men can hold leadership positions.
• They gather in the “Kingdom Hall.”

– Stigmatizing accusations

Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesman Jørgen Pedersen says the state has made stigmatizing and incorrect accusations.

He describes this as deeply offensive to every member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, especially families, parents and young people.

He believes they have been deprived of their religious freedom.

– This week’s hearing has clearly shown that the decision to deny Jehovah’s Witnesses registration and state support is not based on any documented evidence.

He says they have confidence in the rule of law and look forward to a decision.

Pedersen believes the conclusion will extend far beyond Jehovah’s Witnesses.

– Hopefully, it will establish the rights and fundamental freedoms that apply to all citizens in Norway.

Last chapter

Jan Frode Nilsen has followed the case closely for over five years.

He describes it as a tough process.

– Now it’s the last chapter. There have been many hours of stomachache, but I wouldn’t be anywhere else today, he says.

He himself spent five years leaving the religious community.

– It’s not just that you’re ostracized. It’s everything that happens before, says Nilsen and continues:

– Are we free to choose if they say that if you opt out, you will never see your mother again? Is it the right to choose for yourself?, he asks rhetorically.

For him, there were many emotions associated with making the choice to start a life outside of the religious community.

He says that pain, guilt, shame and the fear of disappointing those around him were central.

But when he had children, he realized he had to do it.

– I don’t want them to go through the same thing as me, says Nilsen.