Christian registrar denied leave to appeal gay wedding refusal

A Christian registrar who lost her job after she refused to carry out civil partnership ceremonies has been refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Lillian Ladele’s situation does not raise legal points of “general public importance”, according to the highest court in the land.

She is now considering whether to try to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights, as she believes it shows that the right to religious conscience has been "trampled" by the rights of homosexuals.

It comes just days after senior bishops and peers warned that clergy could be sued if they refuse to perform civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples in church. These new events were approved by the House of Lords last week and are now under consideration by ministers.

There were already fears that Christians enjoy less legal protection than minority groups after the Appeal Court ruled last month that British Airways had not discriminated against an employee by banning her from wearing a cross.

Miss Ladele, speaking via her lawyer, said: “I am naturally disappointed by the Supreme Court’s rejection of my application for appeal. I am actively discussing with my lawyers the possibility of an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

"When the rights of different groups clash, as they have in my case, surely there must be a proportionate attempt to balance those competing rights. In my case, one set of rights was trampled by another set of rights. That cannot be right in a free and democratic society. I believe my case raises important issues of liberty that deserve further consideration by the courts.”

Mike Judge, a spokesman for the Christian Institute, which helped fund Miss Ladele’s case, added: “Christians will feel let down by this decision. It will only serve to reinforce the impression that Christians are being pushed to the sidelines of public life.

“Our nation’s highest court has effectively told them their concerns are not of general public importance.”

Miss Ladele had worked as a registrar at Islington town hall in north London for 16 years but because of her deeply-held religious beliefs she did not want to officiate at civil partnership ceremonies, which were introduced in 2005 to grant legal rights to homosexual couples.

She initially tried to change the rotas so that colleagues presided over the unions, but complaints were made that she was homophobic and she claims the council told her that she would face dismissal for gross misconduct unless she agreed to preside over civil partnerships. She resigned last year.

An employment tribunal ruled that Miss Ladele had been discriminated against and that the council had shown no respect for her rights, but this decision was overturned at an appeal tribunal.

In December Appeal Court judges agreed that she had broken the law, as the Sexual Orientation Regulations brought in by Labour in 2007 make it illegal to refuse to serve someone on the grounds of their sexuality.

Miss Ladele sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court but has been refused permission.

A court document released on Thursday states: “The court ordered that permission to appeal be refused because the application does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the Supreme Court at this time, bearing in mind that the case has already been the subject of judicial decision and reviewed on appeal.”