The identity of the judge who presided over a secret trial in Quebec in a highly unusual way must be revealed, so that he is accountable to the population, pleaded the lawyer for a coalition of journalistic organizations before the Court of Appeal , Monday.
Posted at 9:23 p.m.
Me Christian Leblanc, who was supported by his colleague Me Patricia Hénault, described this secret trial as an “aberration” which must be corrected.
“The reason why there has been a strong reaction to this secret trial, particularly from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, particularly from the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec, is that the court must be accountable,” he said.
In my career, I have never seen that, that the name of the judge who rendered a judgment is kept silent. It is highly symbolic. A judge who asks that his name be withheld is not likely to promote public confidence in the judicial system.
Me Christian Leblanc, lawyer representing a coalition of journalistic organizations
Such a request, “it is not trivial” and “it worries us”, he added.
” It’s of all beauty ”
Last March, The Press revealed that the Court of Appeal had uncovered the existence of a secret trial held on the fringes of the public justice system with the participation of federal Crown prosecutors, from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC). The unorthodox exercise was aimed at trying a police informant whose identity needed to be protected and who had found himself charged with a crime.
The Court of Appeal ordered a halt to the legal process against this informant and deplored the holding of an exercise “incompatible with the values of a liberal democracy”. But she has still not revealed the place where this trial was held, the identity of the judge and the lawyers involved, the accusation and the sentence which had been imposed at first instance.
On Monday, several media as well as the Attorney General of Quebec asked that certain elements be made public while protecting the identity of the police informant.
Crown prosecutors involved in the first trial tried to claim that neither the media nor the Attorney General of Quebec could ask for the secrecy to be lifted, because they had no proof that things had been done wrong in the first instance. .
“It’s beautiful, because so far, we don’t know anything about the first instance,” exclaimed Me Leblanc, speaking of a “circular” argument.
Until now, the population of Quebec must imagine that a lawyer can enter the courthouse, find a judge, by obscuring the registry, knock on the door and say: ‟I would like to submit a procedure to you.” And that same judge says: ‟Okay, we will organize things between us”.
Me Christian Leblanc, lawyer representing a coalition of journalistic organizations
“Even using our imagination and the wildest assumptions, we have difficulty understanding why, for example, the prosecutors of the prosecutor could not be identified. We still do not know the prosecutors. That too, I have never seen in my career,” added the media lawyer.
The Attorney General of Quebec should have been notified
The lawyer for the Attorney General of Quebec said for his part that his intervention was justified by the mission of the Minister of Justice in Quebec.
“The mission of the Minister of Justice is, on the one hand, to foster public confidence in justice. And that is done by maintaining a public system, ”he pleaded.
He pointed out that when the person tried in the secret trial appealed his conviction, the case immediately raised important issues of public interest, and that the parties should therefore have notified the Attorney General of Quebec, who which has not been done.
Lawyers from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada explained at length to judges Martin Vauclair, Marie-France Bich and Patrick Healy the reasons why they want to remain anonymous and hide their actions from the public. As this portion of the hearing was held behind closed doors, it is impossible to know what arguments they brought forward.
The Court of Appeal took the case under advisement.