A free-speech battle by opponents of abortion at the University of Victoria has been shut down by British Columbia's highest court.

The university approved a permit for a demonstration by the group in January 2013, but then revoked the approval when it learned its student society had sanctioned the group for apparently harassing students.

When the group, called Youth Protecting Youth, held the demonstration anyway, the University suspended its outdoor-space booking privileges for one year, prompting court action by an anti-abortion student club.

A panel of three B.C. Court of Appeal judges has now ruled that the Charter of Rights doesn't apply to the university's regulation of its outdoor space.

The panel agreed with a lower court ruling, saying that because the university was a private organization and booked the space for a non-academic reasons, the charter argument didn't apply.

The anti-abortion group was supported by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which unsuccessfully argued that charter values including free speech should be taken into account by institutions such as Canadian universities.