(Quebec) Liberal MNA Gaétan Barrette is asking the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, to challenge the Conseil de la magistrature to indicate under what criteria it is acceptable in a democratic society to hold a secret trial. Otherwise, and this is “very serious”, he warns, “we open the door to all kinds of potential abuse”.
Posted at 9:17 a.m.
Mr. Barrette denounced Wednesday that all the clarity has not been made to date on the holding of a secret trial for a police informant. Friday, The Press revealed how the Court of Appeal had discovered the existence of a secret criminal trial held in a context that the highest court in Quebec deemed “incompatible with the values of a liberal democracy”. No file number was opened, the charges were kept confidential, as was the sentence and the name of the judge. The judgment was not archived at the registry, and witnesses were questioned outside the courthouse.
“When the minister says repeatedly that we have the means to protect the identity of a party, what are the circumstances that he describes as exceptional that justify imposing the holding of a secret trial? If secrecy is imposed and it is not to protect the informant, it is to make something else invisible. What is something else? asked the Liberal MP.
“The minister must go to the Conseil de la magistrature to rule on what happened and what is permitted in our codes. To protect everyone, he must make sure with the judiciary that it will not happen again. And if there are circumstances where it can be done, let them establish those circumstances,” he added.
For a mandate of initiative
Gaétan Barrette also supports the request of PQ MNA Véronique Hivon, who wants parliamentarians to seize a mandate of initiative to hear key witnesses who will explain how a secret criminal trial could be held in Quebec. According to her, the revelations made by The Press are “the equivalent of a nuclear bomb for the justice system”.
“If we’re in the United States and there’s a story of espionage, and if such a thing comes out, it’s World War III, maybe there… But we’re not there! We are in a current affair. I do not see [ce qui justifie un procès secret] added Mr. Barrette.
“Can we imagine a very serious scenario in history where it would have been necessary [tenir un procès secret] ? Perhaps, one can imagine. There are detective novels that have been written. But we still need to know the criteria that if it happens, we can do it, ”said the deputy.
According to him, “we open the door to all kinds of potential abuse. It’s like the CIA. They conducted interrogations outside the United States because there are laws in the United States. Now, if our laws allow for a secret trial that makes it so invisible there’s no trace, […] it’s serious. »
This trial, “it’s called a precedent. And a precedent, it has the characteristic of reproducing, but it does not necessarily reproduce in the same circumstances, ”concluded Mr. Barrette.
With Vincent Larouche