Law in Quebec

Right to contact counsel of choice

The right to contact counsel of choice was at the heart of two Quebec Court of Appeal decisions. In R c. Blackburn-Laroche, 2021 QCCA 59, the appellate court held that police officers had not made the necessary effort to reach the lawyers chosen by the respondent. As a result he was deprived of a reasonable opportunity to contact them. In another case, R. c. Tremblay, 2021 QCCA 24, the appeal court held that “the police did not fulfill their well-known duty to facilitate the respondent’s exercise, at the first reasonable opportunity, of her constitutional right to retain and instruct counsel.”