Quebec Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal of Quebec (sometimes referred to as Quebec Court of Appeal or QCA) (in French: la Cour d'appel du Québec) is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada. It hears cases in Quebec City and Montreal.
History
The Court was created on May 30, 1849, as the Court of Queen's Bench (Cour du Banc de la Reine in French). The Court's judges had jurisdiction to try criminal cases until 1920, when it was transferred to the Superior Court. In 1974 it was officially renamed the Quebec Court of Appeal.[1]
Jurisdiction
Under the Code of Civil Procedure of Quebec and the Criminal Code, someone wishing to appeal a decision of the Superior Court of Quebec generally has 30 days to file an appeal with the Court of Appeal. Civil cases usually must have at least $50,000 in dispute to be heard. The Court of Appeal will overrule a lower court decision if it is "incorrect" on a question of law or "patently unreasonable" on an important factual finding. The Court of Appeal almost never hears witnesses, and lawyers' oral and written submissions are kept to strict maximum lengths. A normal case will take several months from filing of an appeal to a decision by the Court of Appeal, but the Court may hear a case within hours or days in an emergency.
Appeals of Court of Appeal decisions are heard before the Supreme Court of Canada, which is located in the federal capital of Ottawa, Ontario, but only if leave to appeal is granted either by the Supreme Court of Canada or by the Court of Appeal.
The ability of the Supreme Court of Canada, which has six of its nine justices from common law provinces and only three from the civil law province of Quebec, to overrule the Court of Appeal of Quebec has occasionally been raised as a political issue by Quebec nationalistsTemplate:Citation needed, who worry that it erodes Quebec's distinctive legal culture. In practice, issues of civil law are heard at the Supreme Court by its three Quebec members plus two of its common law members.
Perhaps the most significant decision of the Court of Appeal was Morgentaler v R (1974), in which the Court of Appeal overturned a jury decision acquitting Montreal Doctor Henry Morgentaler of performing an abortion, despite Morgentaler publicly admitting that he had done so. This was the first time in Canada that a jury acquittal had been replaced by a conviction, on appeal, rather than a new trial being ordered. The Court of Appeal was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1975. Subsequently Parliament amended the Criminal Code removing the ability of provincial courts of appeal to substitute jury acquittals with convictions.
Composition
As a "Superior Court" under section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867, Court of Appeal judges are appointed by the Governor-General of Canada on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada (in practical terms the advice is always followed). Appointees must be members of the Quebec Bar, but need not have had previous experience as a judge. However, appointees almost always have some experience as a judge, usually on the Superior Court of Quebec. The quorum of the Court of Appeal of Quebec is three judges.
Originally, the Court had four judges, including the Chief Justice. It is currently constituted of 20 judges, including the Chief Justice. By statute, thirteen of the judges must reside in Montreal, while seven must reside in Quebec City.
Current Judges
| Position | Name | Appointed | Nominated By | Position Prior to Appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Justice | Nicole Duval Hesler[2] | November 22, 2006 October 7, 2011 (as Chief Justice) |
Harper | Quebec Superior Court Court of Appeal |
| Justice | Yves-Marie Morissette [1] | November 7, 2002 | Chretien | Professor at McGill Law Called to bar (1977) |
| Justice | François Doyon[3] | May 7, 2004 | Martin | Court of Quebec Assistant chief prosecutor Called to bar (1975) |
| Justice | Marie-France Bich [2] | September 24, 2004 | Martin | Professor at Universite de Montreal Faculty of Law |
| Justice | Nicholas Kasirer | July 31, 2009 | Harper | Dean of McGill Law |
| Justice | Guy Gagnon | September 29, 2009 | Harper | Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec |
| Justice | Marie St-Pierre [3] | April 10, 2012 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court (2002 to 2012) Desjardins, Ducharme, Stein, Monast Blain Piché Emery Called to bar (1979) |
| Justice | Dominique Bélanger [4] | November 2, 2012 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court (2005 to 2012) Called to bar (1980) |
| Justice | Manon Savard | April 26, 2013 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Claude C. Gagnon | November 8, 2013 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Martin Vauclair | December 19, 2013 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Geneviève Marcotte | April 11, 2014 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Mark Schrager | June 13, 2014 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Robert Mainville | July 1, 2014 | Harper | Federal Court of Appeal |
| Justice | Marie-Josée Hogue [5] | June 30, 2015 | Harper | Lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault |
| Justice | Patrick Healy | October 20, 2016 | J. Trudeau | Court of Quebec |
| Justice | Simon Ruel | June 23, 2017 | J. Trudeau | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Jocelyn F. Rancourt [6] | June 23, 2017 | J. Trudeau | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Claudine Roy [7] | August 17, 2017 | J. Trudeau | Quebec Superior Court (2003 to 2017) |
| Justice | Suzanne Gagné | November 29, 2017 | J. Trudeau | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Genevieve Cotnam | June 22, 2018 | J. Trudeau | Court of Quebec |
supernumerary judge
| Position | Name | Appointed | Nominated By | Position Prior to Appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justice | Julie Dutil* [8] | September 24, 2004 | Martin | Quebec Superior Court Called to bar (1980) |
| Justice | Paul Vézina* [9] | February 25, 2005 | Martin | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Lorne Giroux* [10] | February 25, 2005 (Judge) June 30, 2015 (Sup.) |
Martin | Professor at Université Laval Faculty of Law Called to bar (1969) |
| Justice | François Pelletier* [11] [12] | June 6, 2000 | Chretien | Quebec Superior Court Pouliot, L'Écuyer (1995 to 1997) Vézina, Pouliot (1972 to 1995) Amyot, Lesage (1970 to 1972) Called to bar (1970) |
| Justice | Benoît Morin* [13] | December 4, 2001 | Chretien | Quebec Superior Court (1994 to 2001) Called to bar (1965) |
| Justice | Jacques Chamberland* | June 10, 1993 - October 11, 2011 (sup.) | Mulroney | Deputy Attorney General for Quebec |
| Justice | France Thibault* [14] | December 1, 1998 | Chretien | Quebec Superior Court (1994 to 1998) Grondin, Poudrier Called to bar (1976) |
| Justice | Louis Rochette* [15] | February 1, 2000 | Chretien | Quebec Superior Court (1994 to 2000) Called to bar (1974) |
| Justice | Jacques Dufresne* | May 13, 2005 | Martin | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Jean Bouchard* [16] | October 1, 2009 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court Called to bar (1978) |
| Justice | Jacques Levesque* | November 2, 2012 | Harper | Quebec Superior Court |
| Justice | Allan R. Hilton* [17] | September 26, 2003 | Chretien | Quebec Superior Court |
Former Justices
- Julien Chouinard (1974 – September 1979)
- Claire L'Heureux-Dubé (1979 – April 1987)
- Antonio Lamer (1978 - March 1980)
- Louis LeBel (June 1984 – January 2000)
- Morris Fish (June 1989 – August 2003)
- Marie Deschamps (March 1992 – August 2002)
- Jean-Louis Baudouin (May 1989 – 2008)
- Richard Wagner (February 2011 – October 2012)
- Clément Gascon (April 10, 2012 - June 9, 2014) [18]
- Joseph Nuss [4]
- J. Michel Robert[4]
- Armand Forget[5]
- Louise Otis [19]
- Robert Pidgeon [20]
- Pierre J. Dalphond [21] (? - November 4, 2014)
- Pierrette Rayle [22]
- André Rochon [23]
Chief Justice of Lower Canada
- William Smith (chief justice) 1791-1793
- William Osgoode 1794-1801
- John Elmsley 1802-1805
- Henry Allcock 1805-1808
- Jonathan Sewell 1808-1838
- Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet 1838-1841
Chief Justice of Canada East
- Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet 1841-49
Chief Justice of Court of Queen's Bench
- Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet 1849-53
References
- ↑ http://courdappelduquebec.ca/en/about-the-court/history/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120118224651/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&pageId=26&id=4387
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110613192409/http://www.justice.gc.ca:80/eng/news-nouv/ja-nj/2004/doc_31184.html
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20031111225143/http://www.justice.gc.ca:80/en/news/ja/1995/QUE9.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20031111225554/http://www.justice.gc.ca:80/en/news/ja/1996/QUE17.html