Quebec Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal of Quebec uses the Royal Arms of the Queen in right of Quebec, commonly called the Quebec Coat of Arms, to represent the Queen as the font of justice being administered by the court.

The Court of Appeal of Quebec (frequently 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.

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

As a "Superior Court" under section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867, Court of Appeal judges are appointed by the Governor-General of Canada (in practical terms, the Prime Minister of Canada). 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.

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 nationalists, 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 (in)famous decision of the Court of Appeal was Morgentaler v. The Queen (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.

History

The Court was created on May 30, 1849, as the Court of Queen's Bench (in French, Cour du Banc de la Reine). In 1974 it was officially renamed the Quebec Court of Appeal.

Current Judges

Position Name Appointed Nominated By Position Prior to Appointment
Chief Justice Nicole Duval Hesler November 22, 2006
October 7, 2011 (as Chief Justice)		 Harper Quebec Superior Court
Court of Appeal
Justice Jacques Chamberland* June 10, 1993 Mulroney Deputy Attorney General for Quebec
Justice André Forget* May 9, 1996 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice France Thibault* December 1, 1998 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice Louis Rochette* February 1, 2000 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice François Pelletier* June 6, 2000 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice Benoît Morin* December 4, 2001 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice André Rochon* February 26, 2002 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice Pierre J. Dalphond October 1, 2002 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice Yves-Marie Morissette November 7, 2002 Chretien Professor at McGill Law
Justice Allan R. Hilton* September 26, 2003 Chretien Quebec Superior Court
Justice François Doyon May 7, 2004 Martin Court of Quebec
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 Paul Vézina* February 25, 2005 Martin Quebec Superior Court
Justice Lorne Giroux* February 25, 2005 Martin Professor at Université Laval Faculty of Law
Justice Jacques Dufresne* May 13, 2005 Martin Quebec Superior Court
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 Jean Bouchard October 1, 2009 Harper Quebec Superior Court
Justice Marie St-Pierre April 10, 2012 Harper Quebec Superior Court
Justice Jacques Levesque* November 2, 2012 Harper Quebec Superior Court
Justice Dominique Bélanger November 2, 2012 Harper Quebec Superior Court
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 Jean-Francois Émond June 13, 2014 Harper Quebec Superior Court
Justice Robert Mainville July 1, 2014 Harper Federal Court of Appeal
Justice Marie-Josée Hogue June 30, 2015 Harper Lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault
Justice Étienne Parent June 30, 2015 Harper Quebec Superior Court
Justice Patrick Healy October 20, 2016 J. Trudeau Court of Quebec

Previous Justices

Chief Justice of Lower Canada

Chief Justice of Canada West

Chief Justice of Court of Queen's Bench

External links

Coordinates: 45°30′26″N 73°33′15″W / 45.50722°N 73.55417°W / 45.50722; -73.55417

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