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.

Quebec Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal of Quebec uses the coat of arms of Quebec as its symbol
45°30′26″N 73°33′15″W
EstablishedMay 30, 1849,
Coordinates45°30′26″N 73°33′15″W

History

The court was created on May 30, 1849, as the Court of Queen's Bench (Cour du Banc de la Reine in French) – or Court of King's Bench (Cour du Banc du Roi in French) depending on the gender of the current monarch serving as head of state first of the United Kingdom, then of Canada. 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]

Édifice Ernest-Cormier, the Quebec Court of Appeal building on Notre-Dame Street in Old Montreal.

Jurisdiction

Under the Code of Civil Procedure of Quebec and the Criminal Code, someone wishing to appeal a decision of the either the Superior Court of Quebec or the Court of Quebec generally has 30 days to file an appeal with the Court of Appeal. Final judgments in civil cases are appellable as of right if the amount in dispute is at least $60,000 in dispute to be heard.[2] The Court of Appeal will overrule a lower court decision if it is "incorrect" on a question of law or if a "palpable and overriding error" was made on questions of fact or mixed fact and law.[3] 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 an appeal within hours or days in an emergency.

Appeals of Court of Appeal decisions are heard before the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, but only if leave to appeal is granted either by the Supreme Court of Canada or by the Court of Appeal. Notwithstanding this, in very limited circumstances, a decision of the Court of Appeal may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada as of right.

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 nationalists, who worry that it erodes Quebec's distinctive legal culture.

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 for appeals on the merits is generally three judges, but the court has also sat five judges in exceptional circumstances, and in one recent extremely exceptional case, the court sat seven judges.[4] However, for Applications seeking leave to appeal and most other applications in the course of the proceeding, quorum is composed of only one judge of the Court of Appeal.[5]

Originally, the court had four judges, including the chief justice. It is currently constituted of 22 judges, including the chief Justice.[6] By statute, fifteen of the judges must reside in Montreal, while seven must reside in Quebec City.[6]

Current judges
Position Name Appointed Nominated by Position prior to appointment
Chief Justice Manon Savard April 26, 2013

June 11, 2020

 Harper

J. Trudeau

 Quebec Superior Court
Justice Guy Gagnon September 27, 2009 Harper Court of Quebec
Justice Martin Vauclair December 17, 2013 Harper Quebec Superior Court
Justice Geneviève Marcotte April 10, 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 June 19, 2015 Harper Lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault
Justice Patrick Healy October 19, 2016 J. Trudeau Court of Quebec
Justice Simon Ruel June 21, 2017 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Jocelyn F. Rancourt June 21, 2017 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Suzanne Gagné November 29, 2017 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Genevieve Cotnam June 26, 2018 J. Trudeau Court of Quebec
Justice Stephen Hamilton August 29, 2018 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Stéphane Sansfaçon January 31, 2019 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Michel Beaupré March 8, 2019 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Benoit Moore June 22, 2019 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Guy Cournoyer October 1, 2020 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Sophie Lavallée October 1, 2020 J. Trudeau Professor of Law, Université Laval
Justice Christine Baudouin November 19, 2020 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Frédéric Bachand November 19, 2020 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Peter Kalichman April 27, 2021 J. Trudeau Quebec Superior Court
Justice Lori Renée Weitzman May 31, 2023 J. Trudeau Court of Quebec

Supernumerary judge

Position Name Appointed Nominated By Position Prior to Appointment
Justice Yves-Marie Morissette* November 7, 2002 Chretien Professor at McGill Law
Justice François Doyon*[7] May 7, 2004 Martin Court of Quebec
Assistant chief prosecutor
Justice Julie Dutil* September 24, 2004 Martin Quebec Superior Court
Justice Marie-France Bich September 24, 2004 Martin Professor at Universite de Montreal Faculty of Law
Justice Jacques J. Levesque* November 2, 2012 Harper Quebec Superior Court

[6]

Former justices

Chief Justice of Lower Canada

Chief Justice of Canada East

Chief Justice of Court of Queen's Bench

References
  1. "History – Cour d'appel du Québec". Court of Appeal of Quebec. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  2. Code of Civil Procedure, CQLR, c. C-25.01, s. 30. https://www.canlii.org/en/qc/laws/stat/cqlr-c-c-25.01/latest/cqlr-c-c-25.01.html?autocompleteStr=civil&autocompletePos=3
  3. Housen v. Nikolaisen, 2002 SCC 33, para. 19–37. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1972/index.do
  4. In the matter: Reference to the Court of Appeal of Quebec pertaining to the constitutional validity of the provisions of article 35 of the Code of Civil Procedure which set at less than $85,000 the exclusive monetary jurisdiction of the Court of Québec and to the appellate jurisdiction assigned to the Court of Québec, 2019 QCCA 1492. https://www.canlii.org/en/qc/qcca/doc/2019/2019qcca1492/2019qcca1492.html?autocompleteStr=reference%20cod&autocompletePos=1
  5. Code of Civil Procedure, CQLR, c. C-25.01, ss. 357 & 378. https://www.canlii.org/en/qc/laws/stat/cqlr-c-c-25.01/latest/cqlr-c-c-25.01.html?autocompleteStr=civi&autocompletePos=3
  6. "Composition – Cour d'appel du Québec".
  7. "Quebec Judicial Appointment Announced". Archived from the original on 2011-06-13.
  8. "Quebec Judicial Appointments Announced". Archived from the original on 2003-11-11.
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