Quebec has chosen the five judicial districts where the pilot projects of the court specializing in matters of sexual violence and domestic violence will be implemented.
The courthouses of Québec, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Granby, Drummondville and La Tuque have been selected. The government has already said that it wants the pilot projects to last for two years.
The government chose districts based on various criteria, including “territorial and population realities”, the size of courthouses, the presence of community organizations working on sexual violence and domestic violence, and the presence of Indigenous communities. .
“The pilot projects will make it possible to develop best practices and also to assess the impact of our specialized court model in different contexts,” said the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, in a press release published Wednesday morning. He did not specify when the pilot projects would come into operation. In December, he said he expected these to roll out as early as January.
The government’s desire to create a specialized court angered the chief judge of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau, who made her dissent known in several forums. Judge Rondeau — who is also head of the Judicial Council — notably expressed concern that the creation of a specialized tribunal would undermine the Court’s obligation of impartiality and neutrality. Defense lawyers also expressed their “concern” about the project put forward by Quebec.
In his press release, Minister Jolin-Barrette recalled “that the establishment of the specialized tribunal does not change the applicable law”. “Procedural guarantees and the rights of the accused, including the presumption of innocence, remain,” he wrote.
In November, the minister also amended the bill aimed at creating a specialized court. Among other things, he had proposed to create within the court a “specialized division” in matters of sexual and domestic violence and delegate more powers to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions.
Bill 92 to create a specialized court for sexual violence and domestic violence was adopted on November 25, two months after it was tabled in the National Assembly.