When the Walsh case was taken to the House of Lords, Lord Strachan (Presiding) made a few remarks about the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society, that I will now quote, for they are very interesting. These were taken from the publication "1956 Session Cases - Cases Decided In The Court of Session and Also In The Court of Justiciary and House of Lords, from August 2, 1955, to July 19, 1956", Published for the Faculty of Advocates by Oliver and Boyd, Edimbough, 1956.
Case presented to the House of Lords in July 19, 1956. Lord Stracham's comments, page 133 on the subject if the Jehovah's Witnesses may be legitimally considered a 'religious denomination'. He pondered about some arguments against this case:
"[the Jehovah's Witnesses aren't a 'religious denomination' because] it lacks steadfastness of principle, in that it has changed its beliefs in certain respects; c) that its forms and places of worship and its rites and ceremonies are devoid of any athmosphere of reverence; d) that its educative system and the qualifications required of its officers are insufficient; e) that its organization is altogether a "secular" setup rather than a religious denomination."
It's worth noting that in the end he concluded that the Jehovah's Witnesses may be legitimally considered a 'religious denomination'. But the arguments against that notion are quite heavy.
On pages 136 and 137, regarding the nature of the duties of the congregational servant as outlined in the publication "Counsel on Theocratic Organization for Jehovah's Witnesses", Lord Stracham notes:
"I have read and re-read those paragraphs [83 and 84] and I am bound to say that they quite clearly give me the impression of duties which are administrative and secreterial rather than those of a spiritual leader. (...) According to the pamphlet, the emphasis is definitely on administration than on spiritual leadership"
Considering the nature of the structure of the rulership whithin the Jehovah's Witnesses, Lord Justice-Clark made the following remark, on page 142:
"Originally these companies [congregations] appear to have enjoyed some measure of self-determination (...) But that has all passed away. Theocratic rule was introduced. Under this rule, the president and the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, as the mouthpieces of Jehovah, are the absolute rulers of the sect. They are so in virtue of their exclusive power to interpret the scriptures, and absolute acceptance of their interpretation is obligatory on all Jehovah's Witnesses. Accordingly, the structure of the body's organization is authoritarian and indeed totalitarian."
Also interestingly is that, although the "Governing Body" was only formally introduced in the late 1970's, by this time (1956), the use of the term was already common, as ways to designate the leadership of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The same Lord Justice-Clark, in reference to the powers of attorney held by the UK Branch Overseer Mr. Hughes, noted:
"...Mr. Hughes, the branch servant, who holds a power of attorney from the governing body. He rules in virtue of this power, subject, of course, to such direct and overriding instructions as he may receive from the governing body"
Eden