“If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t act the same way,” acknowledged Judge Joëlle Roy, while reiterating the “great violence” expressed towards her in a column in The PressThe judge testified Tuesday before the Judicial Council and risks a reprimand after an outburst in the courtroom last fall in response to an article by columnist Yves Boisvert.
“The last sentence [de la chronique]it was a call for my dismissal,” explained Joëlle Roy in the courtroom.
The judge appeared before the Judicial Council on Tuesday morning. The investigation committee, chaired by Judge Julie Veilleux, must determine whether she failed in her duty of reserve and serenity during interventions in response to a text by the columnist of The PressYves Boisvert. The columnist notably questioned the judge’s judgment, whose decisions have been repeatedly overturned by the courts of appeal.
One of the two complaints against Judge Roy comes from an assistant director of the Criminal Prosecution Service at the DPCP, Ms.e Sophie Lamarre. Two speeches by Judge Roy at the heart of the case. She was then sitting in a sexual assault trial involving incest on minor victims.
In her opinion, the column published at the time “was not an article like the others” and treated her as “incompetent”, she explained Tuesday in her testimony. Even today, she denounces the violence of the remarks made towards her and the questioning of her career.
“I felt sullied in the public square,” she said.
She had to go to court that day to explain why the case had been postponed, she said. The case was going to be postponed anyway because the victims were not in a condition to testify, she said.
“Damage to reputation is no small matter. The columnist’s comments were detrimental to me personally,” Joëlle Roy justified herself.
Judge Roy’s coup
Judge Roy appeared in October 2023 at the trial, which was to last ten days, emotionally announcing her inability to sit following the column.
The day after the article was published, the magistrate said in tears that she had been the victim of a “very vicious personal attack.” She also deplored the questioning of her skills.
We are human beings, we make decisions based on the evidence we hear.
Judge Joëlle Roy, October 12
The hearing had been postponed. The next day, back in court, Judge Roy had once again commented on the chronicle of The Press by reading a text prepared a few minutes earlier.
“It is no longer the judge who is being attacked, but the woman […] “This is no longer journalism, but abuse of opinion,” the judge reiterated.
She had been absent for several weeks following this event. Another judge exceptionally had to continue the incest trial to avoid a halt to the judicial process due to Jordan delays.
Situation unusual
Judges must demonstrate reserve, courtesy and serenity in their behavior, Mr.e Emmanuelle Rolland, mandated by the Council of the Judiciary. “We must exercise extreme caution and resist the temptation to express ourselves outside the law.”
“Yesterday’s article by Mr. Yves Boisvert in The Press was very violent towards me. A violence of the kind that we see, unfortunately, in court every day,” Judge Roy also declared last October.
At one point in one of her interventions, the judge told the prosecutor that she wanted to “go and join” the complainant who was then with workers from the Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC).
“Even if it was not his intention, these remarks can be perceived as trivializing for victims of violence,” said Mr.e Rolland.
Rather, it is the reading in the courtroom that should concern the investigation committee, she emphasizes.
“This is not an appropriate use of the function.”
Nothing in Joëlle Roy’s remarks was intended to minimize anyone’s suffering, Ms.e Giuseppe Battista, who represents the judge.
The latter did not feel calm and had a duty not to continue the hearing at the time, he said.
“Was that the best way to do it? Probably not. But a judge can make a mistake without it being wrongful conduct,” he added.
The judge found herself, in her opinion, in an unusual situation. Journalists and columnists generally criticize decisions. However, this is not what was done in the column, believes M.e Battista: “She suffered a personal attack that targeted her competence and her ability to serve.”