Quebec does not let go. The government was in the Court of Appeal this Friday so that the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec cannot reduce the number of days that her judges will spend hearing criminal cases.
The latter, Chief Justice Lucie Rondeau, protests what she sees as interference in the work of the judiciary, invoking the sacrosanct principle of judicial independence.
Quebec replies that it must protect citizens, who will suffer from additional delays before their cases are heard if the chief judge goes ahead with her plan.
The showdown between the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, and the magistrate continues.
This conflict began last December when Judge Rondeau indicated to the Ministry of Justice that, as of September, the judges of her Criminal Division would sit one working day out of two – rather than two days out of three. Its objective is to lighten their workload in order to maintain the quality of services to citizens, she explained.
She is calling for 41 more judges to reduce the legal delays that this reduction in hours on the bench could cause.
After months of discussions, the minister and the chief justice did not agree.
Quebec therefore asked the Superior Court to invalidate the decision of the Chief Justice and to quickly suspend it pending a judgment. For the minister, the urgency was real, because the chief judge had announced to reduce the schedules as of September.
“We want to maintain the status quo in the services”, declared in Court Friday morning Me Éric Cantin for the Attorney General of Quebec.
On August 25, a Superior Court judge refused to suspend the Chief Justice’s plan, saying he had no authority to do so.
Refusing to lose this round, Quebec then appealed to the Court of Appeal. On Friday, the Court of Appeal agreed with him. The Superior Court must render judgment on the request for suspension of the magistrate’s decision, ordered Judge Yves-Marie Morissette, who chaired the bench of three judges.
The application for suspension will therefore soon be heard again in Superior Court.