If the chief judge of the Court of Quebec considers that her magistrates in Longueuil or Saint-Jérôme must master English, the Minister of Justice cannot oppose it, ruled the Superior Court.
Updated at 0:00
A Superior Court judge has just dealt a heavy blow to Simon Jolin-Barrette in his showdown against Chief Justice Lucie Rondeau. The minister’s refusal to require large-scale bilingualism of provincial judges – in the name of defending French – was “illegal”, decided Christian Immer, of the Superior Court.
“The Minister cannot intervene in this process to dismiss certain needs identified by the Chief Justice,” Justice Immer wrote in a ruling released Wednesday. ” The Secretary [du comité de sélection des juges] acts unreasonably by following the Minister’s instructions without carrying out his own analysis. »
For several months, Mr. Jolin-Barrette and Mr.me Rondeau tear themselves apart in the public square in a confrontation of rare intensity, given their functions.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Simon Jolin-Barrette, Minister of Justice
One of the battlefields: the government’s desire to minimize the language requirements imposed on new judges of the Court of Quebec. A lawyer who speaks only French should not have to give up the possibility of becoming a judge, believes Simon Jolin-Barrette.
An “illegal” intervention
He therefore published, in recent months, competition notices for judge positions that did not include language requirements, despite Judge Rondeau’s requests to that effect. It estimates that the population of districts like Longueuil or Saint-Jérôme includes enough non-Francophones to justify the requirement of bilingualism.
This request may be the subject of an analysis and even a refusal on the part of the Secretariat for the selection of candidates for the office of judge, but Mr. Jolin-Barrette could not get involved, according to the judge. Immerse.
The Minister has no discretionary power as to the content of the notice of selection to be published.
Judge Christian Immer, of the Superior Court, in his decision
“He has no say in including the needs expressed by the Chief Justice in the opinion [de concours] nor on the identity of the persons he must appoint. »
He added that the “intervention of the Minister of Justice in the process of preparing and publishing the notices [était] ultra vires [au-delà de ses pouvoirs] and illegal”.
This secretariat was set up after the Bastarache commission in order to depoliticize judicial appointments.
Judge Immer canceled the competitions currently open and in which Minister Jolin-Barrette had intervened.
“Enhance the French language”
On Wednesday evening, the Minister of Justice reacted to the Superior Court’s decision through a statement from his press secretary.
“We will take note of the judgment,” said Élisabeth Gosselin.
But one thing is certain, we will spare no effort to defend, promote and enhance the French language and [nous] ensure that all Quebecers can access all positions, regardless of which ones.
Élisabeth Gosselin, press secretary to the Minister of Justice
The Minister of Justice is also minister responsible for the French language within the Legault government.
“There is no evidence to explain why, in a given district where the vast majority of cases are handled in French and where the judges currently in office are for the most part bilingual, it would nevertheless be necessary to systematically require proficiency in the English language,” pleaded Mr. Jolin-Barrette in a letter to Mr.me Rondeau, last year. The Minister argued that if English was really necessary for a function, a course could be offered to the unilingual judge after his appointment.
The defendants “do not make an appointment”
Chief Justice Lucie Rondeau did not speak on Wednesday. She ‘doesn’t wish[ait] not comment on the decision rendered by Judge Immer, “said his executive assistant, Ms.and Annie-Claude Bergeron.
Last year, M.me Rondeau had pointed out that the Court had an obligation to offer a hearing in English if an accused requested it. “We are often not able to know in which language people are going to appear in court. They don’t make an appointment before they get arrested! she had said.
The minister and the judge agree on the fact that all judges appointed to Montreal must be bilingual and that fluency in English is not necessary in Chicoutimi. It is rather the districts of Greater Montreal that are the subject of debate, such as Longueuil and Saint-Jérôme.
In Estrie, in the opinion of the Court of Quebec, you have to speak English to be appointed to Granby, but not to Drummondville. The presence of the Crees and Inuit means that only bilingual judges are appointed in Abitibi and Nord-du-Québec. We accept unilingual judges in Quebec City and Trois-Rivières, but you absolutely have to be bilingual to be appointed in Greater Montreal or the Outaouais.
In addition to the debate on the bilingualism of judges of the Court of Quebec, Simon Jolin-Barrette and Lucie Rondeau also clash on the creation of a court specializing in matters of sexual and conjugal violence as well as on the alleviation of the presence in the magistrates’ courtroom.