Public law

26 Oct 2021

Chief Justice of Court of Quebec will establish division to deal with conjugal and sexual complaints

A new divisional court dealing with conjugal and sexual complaints is expected to be launched by the beginning of 2022 by the Court of Quebec, potentially setting the stage for a legal battle against the Quebec government over judicial independence and the administration of justice.

The Quebec government tabled in mid-September a bill that will create a “specialized” tribunal that is expected to take a different approach to dealing with victims of domestic and sexual violence by moving away from the traditional criminal justice framework and have judicial institutions work in collaboration with specially trained jurists and specialized police units in tandem with social and community services to cultivate a victim-centred approach.

(more…)

Categories: Criminal law, Family law, Judiciary

Tags: domestic violence, sexual violence
26 Oct 2021

Clash between Quebec executive and judiciary flares up over how to deal with conjugal and sexual violence

An unusually public clash between the Quebec Justice Minister and the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec has materialized over competing visions on how to deal with conjugal and sexual violence cases, with little signs of abating.

The simmering skirmish between the executive and the judiciary erupted in the open shortly after Chief Justice Lucie Rondeau announced on Sept 28^th the creation of a new division within the Court of Quebec to deal with conjugal and sexual violence offences, two weeks after the Quebec government tabled a bill that would move away from the traditional criminal justice framework to deal with gender-based violence and create a “specialized” court to deal with these offences.

(more…)

Categories: Criminal law, Family law, Judiciary, Legal business

Tags: domestic violence, sexual violence
1 Mar 2021

Landmark ruling for trans rights

Quebec, once on the forefront of trans rights, is now joining the ranks of most Canadian jurisdictions after Quebec Superior Court declared unconstitutional several articles of the Civil Code of Quebec that discriminated against trans and non-binary people.

In a long-awaited ruling by trans, non-binary and intersex people, the “critically important” decision affirms that having your identity acknowledged and recognized by the State is a core aspect of the right to equality and the right to dignity, assert legal experts. The judgment, lauded as the most sweeping in its scope in Canada involving the constitutional rights of trans people, found that six provisions of the Civil Code violated rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

(more…)

Categories: Canadian Charter, Family law, Quebec, Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings

Tags: Intersex, Non-binary, Trans
1 Feb 2021

Constitutional challenge over legal aid fees rebuffed by court

A Montreal criminal lawyer behind a constitutional challenge of Quebec’s legal aid disbursements’ system and a motion to revamp the legal aid fee system lost his bid after Quebec Superior Court held that it was a political matter.

In a long-awaited decision by the Quebec legal community, with several high-profile criminal defense lawyer’s associations as well as the Quebec Bar joining in the effort, Superior Court Justice Manon Lavoie held that while the issue deserved attention it was an administrative issue that had nothing to do with the constitutional rights of the litigant who raised the matter.

(more…)

Categories: Legal business, Public law, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court

Tags: legal aid fees
25 Jan 2021

Committee recommends overhaul of Quebec’s youth protection system

A Quebec commission of inquiry is calling for a sweeping overhaul of the provincial youth protection system, including legislative amendments, to deal with children slipping under the cracks, burnt-out staff leaving in hordes, and underfinancing, all of which should be overseen by a newly appointed provincial director.

In a preliminary report, the Special Commission on the Rights of the Child and Youth Protection found that children’s rights are not always respected, observed regional disparities of youth protection cases before the courts, deplored the overrepresentation of Indigenous and black children in the system, and noted that the interpretation of confidentiality provisions served as a “brake” on collaboration.

(more…)

Categories: Family law, Legislation, Quebec

Tags: Laurent Commission, Quebec youth protection system
19 Jan 2021

Quebec introduces major reform to crime victims legislation

Barely two weeks after the federal ombudsman for crime victims called on Parliament to overhaul Canada’s victims bill of right, asserting that it has fallen far short of delivering the “real rights it promised,” the Quebec government introduced a bill that will revamp its crime victims legislation to expand the number of people it will cover, making it the most generous in the country.

(more…)

Categories: Criminal law, Legislation, Public law, Quebec

Tags: crime victims legislation
5 Jan 2021

Quebec appeal court ruling opens the door for former common-law spouses to claim unjust enrichment

A wealthy businessman was ordered to pay $2.4 million to his former common law-former partner as he left the relationship with a disproportionate share of the wealth accumulated by the parties’ joint efforts, held the Quebec Court of Appeal.

The appeal court decision, the latest in a slow but steady line of rulings that signals a steady evolution in the way Quebec courts are dealing with legal issues stemming from de facto couples, reaffirms that former common law spouses can make claims of unjust enrichment and be granted monetary awards when they are able to prove that the partners were engaged in a joint family venture, according to family law experts.

(more…)

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

Tags: common-law spouses, joint family venture, unjust enrichment
19 Nov 2020

Little awareness by judges over heightened risks of domestic violence during pandemic, asserts study

Canadian judges have demonstrated very little awareness over the heightened risks of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, a situation that should prompt judges to attend comprehensive legal training over what the United Nations has described as the “shadow pandemic,” according to human rights and legal aid experts.

(more…)

Categories: Covid-19, Criminal law, Family law, Judiciary, Rulings

Tags: Covid-19, domestic violence, intimate partner violence
21 Sep 2020

Gladue may apply to homeless people rules Quebec Court of Appeal

In a decision welcomed by criminal lawyers, the Quebec Court of Appeal seems to have opened the door for the principle of proportionality of sentences to be applied to homeless offenders or members of a marginalized group who are non-Aboriginal.

(more…)

Categories: Aboriginal law, Criminal law, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings

Tags: Criminal Code, Gladue
11 Jun 2020

Academics studying effects of Covid-19 pandemic on law

Quebec law faculties, having decided to offer courses remotely next fall in light of health and safety concerns stemming from Covid-19, are now also ramping up research efforts to assess the impact pandemics may have on law and the practice of law.

Public safety measures that have been introduced following the onset of pandemics such as Covid-19, SARS, and H1N1 have shaken up several areas of established domestic and international legal order, pointed out law professor Louise Langevin who is leading a team of 15 law professors at the Université Laval that will examine a wide gamut of legal issues that affect public and private spheres in the wake of pandemics.

(more…)

Categories: Access to justice, Covid-19, Quebec

Tags: Covid-19, pandemics
14 Feb 2020

Right to privacy trumps parental authority, rules court

A father who demanded that his 16-year old son hand in a copy of his passport as well as other personal documents learned the hard way that Charter-protected rights can trump parental authority.

Parents still remain gatekeepers. They still have the rights and duties of custody, supervision and education of their children. Parental authority still gives parents the right to make all decisions necessary to their children’s well-being.

But there are limits.

(more…)

Categories: Family law, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings

Tags: parental authority, right to privacy
2 Dec 2019

Racial profiling cases winding its way through Quebec courts

A Quebec man who was issued a ticket for accusing a police officer of being a racist after being stopped was acquitted by a municipal court judge, the latest in a series of cases dealing with racial profiling that recently wound its way through Quebec courts.

(more…)

Categories: Access to justice, Class actions, Public law, Quebec, Rulings

Tags: racial profiling
26 Nov 2019

Landmark decision issued by Quebec appeal court over the freedom of peaceful assembly

Less than a month after the Quebec Court of Appeal struck down a Quebec City municipal bylaw that compelled organizers of public demonstrations to submit their plans and itinerary to city police, the City of Montreal officially shelved its own controversial protest bylaw.

The landmark decision, commended as a “genuine advance” on the “least judicially explored freedom,” is the first decision by a Canadian appellate court that comprehensively examines the scope of the freedom of peaceful assembly (2c) as a separate Charter right, distinct from the freedom of expression (2b) or association (2d), according to legal experts.

(more…)

Categories: Canadian Charter, Public law, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings

Tags: demonstrations, freedom of peaceful assembly, protests
7 Nov 2019

Quebec inquiry that examined treatment of Indigenous people calls for changes to justice system

It will take a healthy dose of political will, huge investments and nearly a generation for the Quebec government to implement the wide-ranging recommendations an inquiry that examined treatment of Indigenous people made to the province’s justice and correctional systems, according to legal experts.

In the latest of a growing body of reports examining the plight of Indigenous people in Quebec, retired Quebec Superior Court Justice Jacques Viens concluded after an 18-month examination that “it seems impossible to deny” that members of the First Nations and Inuit are victims of systemic discrimination in accessing public services in Quebec.

(more…)

Categories: Aboriginal law, Barreau du Quebec, Public law, Quebec

Tags: indigenous peoples, Viens Commission
23 Sep 2019

Only two parents in Quebec, not three as elsewhere, rules Quebec Court of Appeal

A child in Quebec can legally only have two parents named in a birth certificate but that does not preclude a third person from parenting, ruled the Quebec Court of Appeal.

In a ruling that underscores the need for legislators to pay heed to societal changes, the Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed the “sharp” distinction between who is a legal parent by virtue of filiation and who may exercise parental authority, reasserts that there is “plenty of space in Quebec law” for a genetic father to be active in the life of a child without legally deemed to be a parent, and seems to indicate that an agreement signed by three individuals over parenthood may not necessarily be binding, according to family law experts.

(more…)

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

Tags: filiation, parental authority, parenthood, parents