A judge of the Court of Quebec will be able to assess the constitutionality of an article of the Official Language Act which requires the immediate translation of judgments rendered in English. The Superior Court on Friday rejected the request of the Quebec government, which accuses Judge Galiatsatos of having a “bias”.
To understand this matter, we go back to the adoption in 2022 of the Legault government’s flagship reform in terms of the French language (former bill 96). The new article 10 of the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec stipulates that from 1er next June, a French version of a judgment rendered in writing in English must be attached “immediately and without delay”.
PHOTO ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Justice Dennis Galiatsatos
In an exceptional initiative, Justice Dennis Galiatsatos of the Court of Quebec decided earlier this month that he had the right to study the constitutional validity of this potentially discriminatory provision against English speakers. In his eyes, the compulsory translation of judgments risks causing “systemic additional delays for all files in English”.
The judge made the decision ahead of the trial of Christine Pryde, accused of dangerous driving causing the death of a cyclist. The 32-year-old chose to have her trial in English, as is her constitutional right. The defense also filed a motion to stop the Jordan-type proceedings due to translation delays.
After trying to convince Judge Galiatsatos that he did not have the right to rule on this constitutional question on his own, the Attorney General of Quebec (PGQ) turned to the Superior Court by filing a request for stay of execution.
Thursday, Judge Marc-St-Pierre of the Superior Court rejected the request of the PGQ lawyers. At this preliminary stage, “serious or irreparable” harm is required to grant the stay. If Judge Galiatsatos rules, it will not change the state of the law, Judge St-Pierre put things into perspective. In addition, the PGQ could appeal the decision on the merits of Judge Galiatsatos, he continued.
“There is no real harm to the public interest by the judge’s ruling,” concludes Judge St-Pierre.
Note that it is very rare for a civil judge of the Superior Court to rule on a debate in criminal matters. Judge St-Pierre also confided during the hearing that he had never handled a criminal case in his long career.
According to government lawyers, Judge Galiatsatos demonstrated “bias calling into question his impartiality” and could not take up the issue. Furthermore, according to the PGQ, the judge assessed the additional time determined by the translation based on his personal experience.
According to Judge Galiatsatos, Article 10 will have very concrete consequences from June: delays may be very long before obtaining the official translation into French of a judgment in English. He spoke of weeks, and probably several months. Which risks leading to Jordan shutdowns.
“However, the Ministry of Justice is currently in negotiations to shorten the deadlines with the organization which usually takes care of the translation precisely to take into account the modification to article 10,” we read in the judgment.
What you need to know-Starting 1er June, judgments rendered in English will have to be immediately translated into French-A judge believes that judicial delays will be extended and wants to study the constitutionality of the Law-Quebec wants to prevent the judge from ruling. But the Superior Court rejected the government’s request on Friday.