The Digital Office of the Court of Appeal

The Digital Office of the Court of Appeal (hereinafter the “Digital Office”) can be used by parties, counsel and persons mandated by a party or by counsel to e-file originating appellate pleadings in civil, criminal, extradition and penal matters, more specifically the following pleadings:

It can also be used by them to pay the related judicial fees, if required. Important note: The Digital Office cannot be used to file originating appellate pleadings in youth matters (jurisdiction code 08).

The Digital Office can also be used to file other pleadings or documents at the same time as the originating appellate pleading. These pleadings or documents may include one or more of the following:

Important! These other pleadings or documents may only be filed via the Digital Office at the same time as the originating appellate pleading. All subsequent filings must be made on paper at the office of the Court.

The paper versions of all the pleadings and documents filed via the Digital Office must be filed with the office of the Court within five working days after the e-filing.

Before using the Digital Office, you must read one of the following practice directions setting out the rules for e-filing an originating appellate pleading:

• Practice Direction No.3 - Digital office of the Court of Appeal (DOCA): Pilot project respecting the electronic filing of notices of appeal and applications for leave to appeal in civil, criminal, extradition and penal matters

For more information on the procedure before the Court of Appeal, please refer to the “Aide-memoire” section.

TYPE OF USER ACCOUNT

Within the scope of this pilot project, counsel, unrepresented parties as well as persons mandated by a party or by counsel can e-file originating appellate pleadings via the Digital Office.

PRACTICE AREAS IN WHICH E-FILINGS ARE ACCEPTED

The Digital Office allows the filing of originating pleadings in certain practice areas that are listed in the table below according to the jurisdictional code indicated in the file number in first instance (i.e., the number in the second position (e.g.: 000-00-000000-000)).

PREREQUISITES FOR USING THE DIGITAL OFFICE OF THE COURT OF APPEAL

(1)  In addition to having a valid credit card in order to pay the legal fees if required, parties, counsel or the persons mandated by a party or by counsel must ensure they have the following documents on hand:

• The originating appellate pleading and its schedules;
• All other pleadings or documents intended to be filed at the same time as the originating appellate pleading;
• Proofs of service for each of the respondents, where applicable;
• Proofs of notification, if available;
• The legal aid mandate, where applicable.

(2)  The following requirements apply to all the documents listed under item 1 above:

• They must be in PDF format;
• Respect the rules set out in the directive from the Chief Justice entitled "Rules respecting the Preparation of the PDF Files of Pleadings, Briefs, Memoranda, Book of Authorities or Any other document"
• The PDF files of the originating appellate pleading and of all other pleadings must allow keyword searches (consequently, digitized documents must not be in the format of a “PDF Image”, except for proofs of service and notification). If these files are in the format of a “PDF Image”, the system will display an error message preventing completion of the e-filing;
• Each proof of service and each proof of notification must be digitized in a separate file because each of these proofs will have to be associated with the proper party.

(3)  Each PDF file must not exceed 250 MB.

(4)  When counsel create an account, they will be asked for a permanent code (firm or lawyer (e.g.: AC1234)), but a permanent code is not mandatory. Counsel without a permanent code may request one from the Ministère de la Justice by completing the form available online at: https://www.justice.gouv.qc.ca/espace-professionnel/juristes/sj-1149/.

TIME OF FILING

To find out when the Court office is open, please refer to the "Contact Us" section of the Court of Appeal’s website.

JUDICIAL FEES AND ONLINE PAYMENT

For filings in civil and penal matters, the judicial fees apply in the same manner as they do to documents filed on paper at the Court office counter. To find out the applicable fees, please refer to the “Court Costs and Fees” section.

When paying the judicial fees, users will be redirected to a secure payment platform. The Court of Appeal and the Ministère de la Justice do not collect any banking information. Only payment with a Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit card is accepted.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

For the best user experience on the Digital Office, we recommend the use of the following browsers: Google Chrome and Edge Chromium. We also recommend the use of the most recent version of these browsers and suggest users ensure their operating system and Web browser have all the required updates and modifications.

EXPIRY OF A SESSION

Users will be disconnected automatically from the system after 60 minutes of inactivity.
For more information on how data is stored and on the security of the Digital Office, please refer to
the Terms of Use section.

TO ACCESS THE DIGITAL OFFICE OF THE COURT OF APEAL, click on the following link: