Tag: judges

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Quebec plans to quash bilingual prerequisite for provincial court judges

Everyone was expecting the Quebec government to appeal the decision that ruled that the Quebec justice minister cannot bar bilingualism prerequisites for judicial candidates.

Failing that, legal experts reckoned the provincial government would change the regulation that prevented the justice minister from having a say on how the judiciary determines its professional and linguistic requirements. Even the judge that ruled on the case said there was nothing to prevent the Quebec government from changing the regulation to ensure the justice minister plays a bigger role in the selection process.

But the Quebec government went much further than anyone anticipated. It is using its legislative muscle “to make the necessary changes to ensure that mastery of a language other than the official language is not a systematic obstacle to accessing the position of judge in Quebec.”

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Quebec justice minister, judiciary locked in ‘power struggle’ over bilingualism requirements for judges

Barely a week after Quebec Superior Court ruled that the provincial justice minister does not have a say on how the judiciary determines its professional and linguistic requirements, the Quebec National Assembly passed a non-binding motion declaring that unilingual French-speaking applicants should not be barred from applying to become provincial judges.

In the wake of a decision that plainly states that the Quebec justice minister cannot bar bilingualism prerequisites for judicial candidates, the National Assembly adopted without debate and with the support of the four opposition parties a motion that “reiterates the importance of the principle of the State’s exemplary role in protecting the French language” and that “justice is no exception to this important principle.”

Quebec Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette is also considering amending legislation to prohibit the Court of Quebec from requiring judges to be bilingual in certain judicial districts, stating that “all options are on the table,” including appealing the 71-page decision in Conseil de la magistrature c. Ministre de la Justice du Québec, 2022 QCCS 266.

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Expert group recommends salary hike for provincially appointed judges

Barely two weeks after the Quebec Justice Minister and the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec publicly clashed over competing visions on how to deal with conjugal and sexual violence, a judicial compensation committee released a report recommending sizeable salary increases for the provincial judiciary, laying the groundwork for even further friction between the executive and the judiciary.

A five-member blue-ribbon panel (pdf) of legal and financial experts recommended boosting the renumeration of Court of Quebec judges from the current $255,000 to $310,000 by July 2022, which would make them the third best paid provincially appointed judges, behind Ontario and Saskatchewan. The independent committee would have recommended a more significant increase “had it not been for the uncertainty created by the pandemic” on Quebec’ economy and public finances.

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Another labour dispute strikes Quebec’s justice system

The list of actors in the Quebec justice system who have grievances against the Quebec government continues to flourish.

Judges sitting on the (TAQ), a specialized court that deals with administrative decisions, recently walked out for a few hours after labour negotiations with the government reached an impasse. In early May, nine of ten coordinating judges, responsible for ensuring rapid and efficient processing of the proceedings, resigned from their administrative duties.

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