After seven years at the helm of Quebec Superior Court, the last two particularly challenging and exhausting, Justice Jacques Fournier has stepped aside
The Quebec justice system, in crisis following an acute shortage of court personnel and strained labour relations that has led to walkouts and strikes, may face even more serious judicial delays if the Court of Quebec follows through with plans to have judges of the Criminal Division sit every second day as of this fall.
The Quebec justice system, buckling under the weight of years of chronic underfinancing, is stricken by such a serious manpower shortage that hardly a day goes by without a trial, a preliminary inquiry or a sentence being delayed or postponed, an untenable situation that could lead to “significant harm” to the public and undermine faith towards judicial institutions, warn top legal officials.
McGill law professors, hoping to gain greater faculty autonomy while seeking the security of a collective bargaining framework and a collective agreement, are attempting to unionize at the faculty level, a first for professors in the university’s 200-year history.
An anti-vax Quebec lawyer opposed to COVID-19 health measures was disbarred by the Barreau du Québec after the legal society invoked a little-used section of the Professions Code.
Professional services firms that have mandatory retirement policies are discriminatory and in breach of the Quebec Charter, held Quebec Superior Court in a ruling that has the legal community buzzing over its implications.
A Quebec notary with drug problems and in financial straits was found guilty of misappropriating more than $50,000 from a client by a disciplinary committee, the eighth case heard by disciplinary councils over the past year dealing with pilfering by legal professionals, something that has been described as the profession’s dirty little secret. Daniel Girouard, who was admitted to the Chambre des notaires in 1986, was found guilty of breaching articles 1, 13, and 56 (7) of the Code of ethics of notaries — of failing to act with dignity, abiding by the strictest rules of integrity, and misappropriation. Girouard misappropriated $59,250 held in his trust account, and used it to pay his drug debts. In an email to an investigator, Girouard said: “I know anyway that I will be struck off. I am addressing you in order to minimise the misery of the parties in this case. As for the consequences for me vis-à-vis the Chamber and the tax authorities, I take responsibility.” The disciplinary committee will determine his sanction at a later date. …
Baker McKenzie topped Thomson Reuters’ Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index for the 12th consecutive year, besting DLA Piper.
A report recommending sizeable salary increases for the provincial judiciary lays the groundwork for further friction between the Quebec executive and the judiciary.
Quebec notaries can now heave a huge sigh of relief after the Court of Appeal found that their duty to inform depends on the circumstances and relationship they have with their client.
Two Quebec law faculties have been rated as two of the best 100 in the world to study law by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University rankings.
