At the start of the hearings on his bill to create a tribunal specializing in sexual and domestic violence, the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, will be able to rely on an open letter signed by more than 600 people who are against “resistance to change”.
Since the first publication, on October 9, of this letter which underlines the “strong consensus around the urgency of establishing a specialized tribunal and of better training all the actors [y compris les juges] to the realities of the victims ”, the number of signatories has quadrupled.
The initiative, led in particular by actress and author Ingrid Falaise, followed an interview between the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec and President of the Judicial Council, Lucie Rondeau, with the To have to. In this one, the magistrate said to have “more than a malaise” with the creation of a specialized court and with its name. She fears that it undermines the Court’s obligation of impartiality. The judge also regrets that she was not consulted during the drafting of the bill.
“Here we are, the voices of women and survivors have been raised in every way possible, and the Chief Justice herself is opposed. For me, it is violence again, and I do not understand this opposition. It’s beyond me, ”laments Ingrid Falaise in an interview with To have to.
With the professor at the University of Ottawa Simon Lapierre, she decided to continue to collect signatures since several people have expressed their interest in supporting the process. “The approach is to say: ‘there are several people who want things to change,’” summarizes Mr. Lapierre, stressing that the primary goal of the signatories is not to change the judge of ideas.
An invitation to “collaborate”
In this climate where two visions clash, a group of women will ask Minister Jolin-Barrette and Judge Rondeau on Tuesday to agree on the preferred name to better support victims of domestic and sexual violence.
In its brief, the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victims of conjugal violence “invites the Minister of Justice, the Court of Quebec and the other actors concerned to collaborate to find a name for a Quebec model”. This is their very first recommendation.
In an interview, the co-responsible for political files at the Regroupement, Louise Riendeau, explains that her organization would have liked the Court of Quebec and the Conseil de la magistrature to participate in hearings on the bill, the title of which emphasizes that it is “on the training of judges ”in matters of sexual and conjugal violence. The Jolin-Barrette cabinet justifies its decision to exclude these two groups by recalling that a motion listing the guests was “unanimously adopted” in the National Assembly.
“It’s really a Gordian knot,” observes the director of the Federation of women’s shelters, Manon Monastesse. In its brief, the Federation “goes by example” by recommending to be inspired by a model of specialized court which has been proven in the State of Queensland, Australia. “We have seen that elsewhere, no, there was no apocalypse, an attack on the presumption of innocence. The magistrates are trained, and there is a follow-up which is made on the impartiality, the independence of the magistracy ”, explains Mme Monastesse, taking up the fears expressed by Judge Rondeau. “So if it’s done elsewhere, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be done here. “
We have seen that elsewhere, no, there was no apocalypse, an attack on the presumption of innocence. The magistrates are trained, and there is a follow-up which is made on the impartiality, the independence of the magistracy.
Ingrid Falaise insists for her on the need to find “a solution which is not egocentric or narcissistic”, but which “listens to the need for support from survivors”. Training, she emphasizes, “it is necessary regardless of the position we have.”