Rulings

18 Nov 2019

Former soldier loses appeal of constructive first degree murder

A former Canadian Armed Forces soldier found guilty of constructive first-degree murder who argued that the verdict was unreasonable and that the trial judge erred by dismissing his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal lost his case before the Quebec Court of Appeal.

The decision reaffirms the growing body of jurisprudence over constructive first-degree murder and illustrates that a person accused of first-degree murder has nothing to lose when appealing even though arguments are clearly destined to fail, according to a criminal lawyer.

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Categories: Criminal law, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings

Tags: constructive first degree murder
13 Nov 2019

Judge denies class action certification over Equifax data breach

A class action suit that sought compensatory and punitive damages against credit-reporting company Equifax Inc. following a massive global data breach that affected more than 143 million people worldwide, including 19,000 Canadians, was refused certification after Quebec Superior Court held that Quebec law does not recognize compensatory damages for data breaches.

The decision, the latest of a rapidly growing body of Quebec jurisprudence dealing with security breaches, underlines that being the victim of a data breach is insufficient to claim damages even though there is prime facie evidence that a fault occurred, according to class action lawyers.

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Categories: Business, Class actions, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings

Tags: data breach, Equifax
4 Nov 2019

Municipal bylaw banning billboards is constitutional

Three of Canada’s biggest sign companies have six months to demolish dozens of billboards in a trendy Montreal borough after the Quebec Court of Appeal held that a municipal bylaw banning outdoor advertising panels represents a minimal infringement on freedom of expression.

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Categories: Canadian Charter, Quebec, Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, Rulings

Tags: billboards, municipal by-law
29 Oct 2019

Railway loses battle over liability after Quebec appeal court ruling

In a setback for the rail industry, Canadian railways will unlikely be able to strike confidential agreements to ship goods that excludes liability or limits it to trivial amounts if damage or loss is sustained, following a recent Quebec Court of Appeal ruling.

In a ruling that examines the apportionment of liability under the Canada Transportation Act (Act), the Court of Appeal decision appears at first glance to undercut the commercial freedom of parties to negotiate their own terms in a deal, and confirms the principle that there is a presumption of liability by the railway carrier for the loss or damage to goods in its possession or control, according to transportation lawyers.

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Categories: Business, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings

Tags: Railways, Transportation
22 Oct 2019

Legislation that forced government lawyers and notaries back-to-work unconstitutional

A Quebec court ruling that declared unconstitutional a special law that forced provincial government lawyers and notaries to put a halt to the longest Canadian strike by public civil servants may give them much-needed ammunition to persuade the Quebec government to introduce binding arbitration, according to legal experts.

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Categories: Canadian Charter, Employment & labour law, Legislation, Quebec, Rulings

Tags: back-to-work legislation
7 Oct 2019

Ruling that struck down the ban on homegrown cannabis may set the stage for another constitutional legal battle

A Quebec Superior Court ruling that struck down the provincial ban on homegrown cannabis may set the stage for yet another constitutional legal battle over the province’s proposed strict draft regulations on cannabis edibles, according to legal experts.

In a ruling that elated cannabis users but disheartened proponents of cooperative and flexible federalism, Quebec Superior Court Justice Manon Lavoie held that the two sections of the Quebec Cannabis Regulation Act that prohibited Quebec residents from growing or possessing cannabis plants at home for personal use were unconstitutional because it infringes upon the federal Parliament’s exclusive authority on criminal law.

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Categories: Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings

Tags: Cannabis Act, Constitution Act 1867, Quebec Cannabis Regulation Act
5 Oct 2019

Suspected PlexCoin founders agree to pay nearly US$7 million

Dominic Lacroix and Sabrina Paradis-Royer lived the good life, while it lasted. He leased a $140,000 luxurious Mercedes Benz and bought a T-Rex, a three-wheeled sports car manufactured by a now bankrupt Canadian company. He purchased a $2.52 million home in a chic neighborhood in Quebec City, and then poured nearly half a million dollars in renovations. And he amassed a healthy fortune, hovering around US$3.3 million, not counting 1,677 bitcoins and other virtual currencies, in the span of a couple of months.

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Categories: Internet, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings

Tags: Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), PlexCoin, PlexCorps, Securities Exchange Commission
4 Oct 2019

Landmark ruling on medically-assisted death may set the stage for further challenges

A landmark ruling that invalidated the “reasonably foreseeable” death clause of both the federal and Quebec laws on medically assisted dying may lay the groundwork for further legal challenges seeking to broaden its coverage, according to legal experts.

In a ruling hailed as an “elegant demonstration of sense and sensibility,” Quebec Superior Court Justice Christine Baudouin struck down the end of life requirement under section 26 of Quebec’s End-of-Life Care Act and the reasonable foreseeability of natural death requirement under the Criminal Code, holding that it breached section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, prerequisites that prevented some people from accessing the end-of-life procedure. The federal law also contravened section 7 of the Charter.

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Categories: Canadian Charter, Legislation, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings

Tags: medically assisted death
1 Oct 2019

Caregiver denied parole

Caregiver denied parole

A Montreal man who was found guilty of manslaughter for killing his ailing wife in what he argued was a compassionate killing was denied parole even though he has served a sixth of his two-year sentence, minus a day.

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Categories: Criminal law, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Rulings
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.

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

Tags: filiation, parental authority, parenthood, parents
16 Sep 2019

45-day sentence to refugees who entered into Canada illegally overturned by Quebec appeal court

Two days after the federal government proposed to make it tougher for asylum seekers from making refugee claims in Canada, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a 45-day prison sentence issued against a Colombian mother and son who pleaded guilty to unlawful entry into Canada.

In a ruling that reiterated the principles of proportionality and the individualization of sentencing, the Quebec appeal court held that the 45-day sentence was “demonstrably unfit” and did not take into account the “particular situation” of the appellants who sought at first to claim refugee protection in Canada through legal channels. The appeal court substituted the imprisonment sentence with a conditional discharge and an 18-month probation order.

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

Tags: asylum, refugee
13 Sep 2019

Mother denied shared custody because of cannabis use

A mother of a three-year old child addicted to marijuana was denied shared custody after Quebec Superior Court held that her cannabis consumption compromised her parental skills.

In a ruling widely expected by family lawyers to be among the first of many the courts will hand down following the legalization of cannabis, Justice Jérôme Frappier held that the mother’s cannabis’ addiction, coupled with her anxiety attacks, represented a “serious risk” because she would be unable to adequately respond to the needs of her child if she had shared custody. Justice Frappier awarded custody to the father, and granted the mother visitation rights two out of every three weekends but only if she is not under the influence of cannabis or any other drug in the presence of her child.

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

Tags: cannabis, custody, drug consumption, parenting
6 Sep 2019

Telus overcharged clients who were billed early cancellation fees, rules Quebec appeal court

Telus became the third Canadian telecommunication giant ordered to pay clients who paid excessive cancellation fees after the Quebec Court of Appeal partially overturned a lower court decision that dismissed the class action.

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Categories: Civil Code of Quebec, Class actions, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings

Tags: contracts, early cancellation fees
4 Sep 2019

Quebec Appeal Court provides more guidance over Mr. Big operations

The Quebec Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for a Quebec man convicted of second degree murder after it held that an out-of-court statement he made was involuntary, evidence yielded by a Mr. Big kind of operation was inadmissible and the trial judge should have given more detailed instructions to the jury.

The decision, exceptionally published in French and English, appears to have slightly broadened the kind of cases that may fall into the Mr. Big category and provides a timely reminder that the confessions rule is not subject to a negative inquiry, according to criminal lawyers.

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

Tags: Confessions, Evidence, jury instructions, Mr. Big
30 Aug 2019

Correctional officers do not have right to negotiate pension plans, rules Quebec appeal court

In a setback for the labour movement, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a lower court ruling that granted the union representing correctional officers the right to negotiate pension plans and staffing.

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Categories: Canadian Charter, Employment & labour law, Quebec, Quebec Court of Appeal, Rulings

Tags: Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, pension plans