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

• *supernumerary judge

Previous 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)

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 West

• Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet 1841-49

Chief Justice of Court of Queen's Bench

• Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet 1849-53

External links

• Official website (French)

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