Supreme Court of Canada

7 Oct 2010

Public inquiries: Unchartered ground for lawyers

When Simon Ruel was recently beckoned to be deputy chief counsel of the Bastarache Commission, the Montreal lawyer was delighted to have an opportunity to leave his imprimatur in the inquiry into alleged political interference in the nomination of Quebec judges even though he was mindful of the long grind that awaited him.

An experienced civil litigator, Ruel is well-versed with the inner workings of public inquiries. Senior counsel on the government litigation team at the Gomery Commission and commission counsel with the Cornwall sex scandal Public Inquiry, Ruel penned “The Law of Public Inquiries in Canada,” a recently published book that examines the legal and strategic issues behind inquiry bodies.

“It’s a privilege,” remarked Ruel, counsel at the civil litigation services of the federal Department of Justice. “It’s not often that lawyers have an opportunity during their careers to represent a matter of public interest on specific incidents in a neutral and objective manner. It is very interesting work.”

(more…)

Categories: Legal Practice Management, Public inquiries, Quebec, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: Public Inquiries
2 Oct 2010

Immunity in public inquiries: A gray zone

Sworn testimony provided by former Quebec justice minister Marc Bellemare before the provincial commission of inquiry into Quebec’s system of nominating judges may be possibly be used against him in a $700,000 suit launched by Premier Jean Charest for “false, malicious and defamatory remarks.”

(more…)

Categories: Canadian Charter, Civil Code of Quebec, Legal Practice Management, Public inquiries, Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: Immunity, Public Inquiries
2 Dec 2009

Class actions not the appropriate procedure to quash muncipal by-laws, rules Supreme Court of Canada

A deeply-divided Supreme Court of Canada recently held that a class action is not an appropriate procedure to challenge the validity of a municipal by-law in a ruling that may have an impact for all common law provinces even though the decision dealt with the Quebec provincial regime for class action authorization.

In narrowly upholding a decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal by a five-to-four margin, some legal observers now wonder whether the ruling, Marcotte v. Longueuil (City), 2009 SCC 43, has curbed access to justice through class action by seemingly holding, among other reasons, that class actions are inappropriate for matters where summary disposition is appropriate.

(more…)

Categories: Class actions, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: municipal by-law, Quebec Code of Civil Procedure
16 Nov 2009

Quebec Court of Appeal provides Rowbotham guidance

Criminal lawyers in Quebec can now breathe a little easier after a Quebec Court of Appeal ruling that held that a certificate of eligibility from legal aid constitutes a presumption of fact when tackling the issue of financial means in cases dealing with a Rowbotham motion.

However in a ruling that adds nuances to findings from a widely-cited judgment rendered by the appeal court five years ago in Québec (Attorney-General) v. R.C. (2003), 13 C.R. (6th) the Court also held that a certificate of eligibility from legal aid is not conclusive evidence, thereby leaving the door open in cases dealing with a Rowbotham application for the courts to examine evidence on whether the applicant lacks sufficient means to obtain legal assistance.

(more…)

Categories: Access to justice, Canadian Charter, Quebec Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: certificate of eligibility, Legal Aid Act, Rowbotham
3 Sep 2009

Mother wins battle to move to France with children

A lower court ruling that prohibited a French mother of two from moving from Quebec to her native country under penalty of losing custody was recently overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal.

In a unanimous ruling, the appeal court issued a warning to courts of first instance that they must be cautious when weighing the “undeniable contribution” of expert’s opinions and bear in mind that “questions over custody and the criteria of who should have right to custody are issues that also call for legal notions,” said Quebec Court of Appeal Judge France Thibeault.

(more…)

Categories: Family law, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: custody, family law
11 May 2009

Appeal court orders new trial after language rights not respected

For the third time since 2005 the Quebec Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal and ordered a new trial because of the failure to respect the language rights of an accused in a ruling that admonishes trial judges and Crown counsel for failing to protect them.

In setting aside the guilty verdict of second degree murder delivered on June 2006 by a Quebec Superior Court jury, the appeal court found that the rights of Bertam Dow under under governing appellate case law interpreting s. 530.1 of the Criminal Code, and s.14 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were not respected, and hence the curative provisions of sub-section 686(1)(b) Cr. C. cannot be applied.

(more…)

Categories: Canadian Charter, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: English-speaking jury, Jurors Act, jury composition, language rights
7 May 2009

Appeal court takes tougher line on spousal support

When the Quebec Court of Appeal recently overturned an order that compelled a financial analyst to pay his ex-wife spousal support for an indefinite period, it caught family law experts by surprise.

Even though s. 15.2(3) of the Divorce Act, which came into force in 1985, allows judges to make an order requiring a spouse to secure and pay his ex-spouse sums for a definite period or until a specified event occurs, the appeal court has traditionally shunned from applying such orders and almost always have overturned lower court rulings that issued that time-limited support orders, particularly if children are in the picture and the spouse – usually women – have been out of the workplace for a long time.

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Categories: Family law, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: Divorce Act, Quebec Association of Family Lawyers, spousal support, time-limited support orders
13 Mar 2009

High court refuses to hear Moroccan immigration case

The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the case of two Moroccans who accused the Quebec government of discrimination in its handling of immigration applications from the North African country. As is usually the case, the high court did not give reasons for its decision.

Khadija Goumbarak and Mohamed Tayouri filed applications for a Québec selection certificate in the class subject to the list of occupations in demand. Between the time they filed their applications and the time those applications were considered, the list was amended, and the occupations for which they were allegedly qualified were withdrawn from the list.

Their applications were rejected because they also could not meet the requirements in the “employability and occupational mobility” class. Goumbarak and Tayouri filed a motion for declaratory judgment to quash the decision of the Quebec Minister of Relations with Citizens and Immigration on the grounds that they had, inter alia, acquired rights at the time they filed their applications and were the victims of discrimination on the basis of their Moroccan citizenship.

The Superior Court dismissed the motion. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

I’ve written about the Quebec court of appeal ruling, and you can read it here.

Categories: Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: discrimination, Immigration, selection certificate
11 Mar 2009

Quebec Court of Appeal shuns strict approach towards sex offender registration

Trial judges considering a Crown’s request to apply an order that requires an offender to comply with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (“SOIRA”) should consider on a case-by-case basis the impact registration would have on the offender while weighing public interest to determine gross disproportionality, the Quebec Court of Appeal found in a ruling that steers away from a more rigid interpretation of reporting obligations.

In a 32-page ruling, dealing with four concurrent cases that challenged the constitutionality of s.490 of the Criminal Code, the court held that a stiff interpretation of what constitutes public interest would be unfair as it would be almost impossible for a convicted sex offender to establish that, if the order were made, the impact on them (including their privacy or liberty) would be grossly disproportionate to the public interest in protecting society.

(more…)

Categories: Canada, Canadian Charter, Criminal law, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: national sex offender database, sex offender, Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA)
3 Mar 2009

Blogger condemned to pay $125,000 for defamation

An exiled Senegalese journalist, now residing in Montreal, has been ordered to pay the son of the president of the Republic of Senegal $125,000 for defaming him in a blog widely republished by African media outlets.

In a blog run by the well-respected French-based publication Nouvel Observateur, Souleymane Jules Diop portrayed Karim Meïssa Wade, in a series of postings that were published between July and November 2005, as a criminal who appropriated or diverted public funds, was involved in money-laundering, and resorted to threats and physical intimidation.

(more…)

Categories: Internet, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: blogging, defamation, Freedom of expression
27 Feb 2009

Immigration Act cannot be invoked to fight extradition

A Hungarian couple of Roma origin lost their bid to overturn an extradition order issued by the Federal Minister of Justice after the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act cannot be invoked to contest an extradition order. (more…)

Categories: Canadian Charter, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: Extradition Act, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, permanent residents, refugees, Roma
7 Feb 2009

Quebec Appeal Court overturns ruling dealing with Mulroney-Schreiber affair

The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a ruling that temporarily suspended a civil suit launched by German-Canadian lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber against former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney until the so-called Oliphant inquiry delivered its final report.

Schreiber filed a suit based on a verbal contract he alleges he reached with Mulroney in Hull, a town located across from the nation’s capital. But the 74-year old deal maker sought to suspend the suit, arguing that his examination before a public inquiry could cause him harm as Mulroney could use information obtained in the course of examination against him. (more…)

Categories: Public inquiries, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: Mulroney, Oliphant inquiry, Schreiber
4 Feb 2009

Quebec minister has wide powers over immigration rules appeal court

The Quebec government has wide discretionary powers to issue selection certificates to foreign nationals seeking to settle permanently in the province, according to two rulings issued concurrently in related matters by the Quebec Court of Appeal.

Indeed, the Court points out that under the Act respecting immigration to Québec (the Act), the Quebec Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities can issue selection certificates to applicants who do not satisfy conditions and selection of criteria established by government policy, or refuse applicants who meet the conditions. (more…)

Categories: Federal Court of Canada, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: Act respecting immigration to Québec, Immigration
3 Feb 2009

Alimony rights for common-law spouses at stake in wealthy couple’s battle

A legal battle pitting a Brazilian aspiring model against a wealthy Montreal businessman may have all the ingredients of a riveting soap opera but at stake lies a constitutional challenge that strikes at the heart over the financial duties of common-law partners in Quebec.

The 35-year-old woman, who mothered three of the man’s children, is challenging the law that mandates spousal payments for couples who only have been legally married. Before Quebec Superior Court, she is seeking $56,000 in alimony and a share of his wealth. The identities of the protagonists are protected by the court, as is the case in Quebec when family law cases involve children. (more…)

Categories: Canadian Charter, Civil Code of Quebec, Family law, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings, Supreme Court of Canada

Tags: alimony, common-law spouses, Lola v. Eric