Ottawa names four Quebec Superior Court justices
Minister Vallée also announces four judges appointed to provincial court
Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould named four new Quebec judges on Thursday to fill critical gaps in the province’s justice system after a landmark Supreme Court decision last summer.
Karen Rogers, Christine Baudouin, Frederic Bachand and Daniel Royer will sit as Superior Court justices, Wilson-Raybould said.
“I am very pleased with (these) substantive new judges that we announced today in Quebec,” Wilson-Raybould told reporters. “This brings the vacancy in Quebec down to two. I am committed to ensuring to fill those two vacancies.”
She said her department has not made any decisions with regard to Quebec’s request for 10 additional Superior Court justices, including the two Ottawa intends to name.
The federal government believes it is responsible for filling roughly 180 positions across the province.
Quebec, however, says it needs additional Superior Court justices to ensure the province is adhering to the Supreme Court ruling, which capped the length of trials to respect the charter rights of defendants.
The country’s high court ruled that legal proceedings can’t exceed 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in Superior Court.
Quebec is just one of many provinces where more judges are required.
As a consequence of the ruling, suspected criminals across the country have been set free because the length of their trials exceeded the legal limit.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government was responsible for filling six vacant justice positions in Quebec.
“We have just filled four of those with extraordinarily exceptional people,” he said in Montreal.
“Yes, we do need to appoint two more, and we will do it in a responsible way and, hopefully, very soon.
“We’ve put in place a more independent, less partisan process for appointments than the previous government (had).
“We’re drawing on a broad range of Canada’s diversity of perspective, of expertise, to serve at all different levels and we’re very proud of our appointment process.”
Meanwhile, Quebec Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée announced Thursday that four new judges have been named to Quebec Court.
Lawyers Marie-Julie Croteau, Catherine Pilon and Éric Dufour will preside in the court’s civil division, while former Quebec prosecutor Joey Dubois will hear cases in the criminal division of Quebec Court in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
Croteau and Pilon come to their new posts from private legal firms, while Dufour worked for the office of the Quebec attorney general representing the government in administrative, civil and constitutional cases.
Dubois was a deputy chief prosecutor in the office of the director of criminal and penal prosecutions.