Informative Booklet for the General Public
To mark its 175th anniversary, the Court produced an informative booklet for the general public. The booklet explains the general workings of the Court and provides some historical background.
To access it, click on the following button: Court of Appeal Booklet
History of the Court of Appeal
The Quebec Court of Appeal has existed since 1849.
On May 30, 1849, during the reign of Queen Victoria (June 20, 1837 – January 22, 1901), royal assent was given to An Act to establish a Court having jurisdiction in Appeals and Criminal Matters for Lower‑Canada.
At that time, the Court was known as the Court of Queen’s Bench and consisted of four judges, including the Chief Justice.
Before 1840, appeals from judgments of the Court of Queen’s Bench, then a trial court, were heard by the Governor and his Council.
From 1840 onwards, until the creation of a real appellate court in 1849, appeals were heard by a panel of three judges from the same trial court, including the Chief Justice.
This judicial reorganization took place under the decisive influence of Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine (1807-1864), among others. He was a lawyer and later Premier of the Province of Lower Canada and of the United Province of Canada from 1842 to 1843 and from 1848 to 1851.
For 125 years, the Court was known as the Court of Queen’s Bench (or King’s Bench, according to the gender of the then monarch of the United Kingdom). Indeed, it was not until 1974, with the adoption of the Act to amend the Courts of Justice Act and certain other legislative provisions relating to the administration of justice and to registry offices, S.Q. 1974, c. 11, that the Court of Queen’s Bench became known as the Court of Appeal.
Originally, in addition to being appellate justices, the judges of the Court of Queen’s Bench were also vested with jurisdiction over criminal trials. This situation lasted 71 years, until such matters were entrusted to the Superior Court (An Act respecting the organization and competence of courts of civil jurisdiction, and the procedure in certain cases, S.Q. 1920 (10 Geo. V), c. 79, assented to February 14, 1920).
Section 92(14) of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides that the provinces have jurisdiction over “[t]he Administration of Justice in the Province, including the Constitution, Maintenance, and Organization of Provincial Courts, both of Civil and of Criminal Jurisdiction”. However, it is the federal government that appoints the judges of the superior courts (including those of the Quebec Court of Appeal) and is responsible for their salaries, allowances and pensions (ss. 96 and 100 of the Constitution Act, 1867).
The history of the Court cannot be told without mentioning a few notable statistics about some of the judges who have served on the Court since 1849:
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Since June 10, 2020, the Court of Appeal has been headed by Chief Justice Manon Savard. Justice Savard is the twenty-first person to hold this position since 1849.
Since 1908, the Chief Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal also holds the title of Chief Justice of Quebec.
In managing the Court’s business at its Quebec City seat, the Chief Justice is assisted by a coordinating judge based in that city. Justice Suzanne Gagné has held that position since June 2022.
To ensure the proper conduct of the Court of Appeal’s business, the Chief Justice may ask the Chief Justice of the Superior Court to designate one or more judges of that court to sit as an ad hoc judge of the Court of Appeal, i.e., for a temporary, definite period of time. Ad hoc judges have all the powers and perform all the duties of judges of the Court of Appeal.
The number of judges was increased to 5 in 1857, 6 in 1881, 12 in 1920, 15 in 1970, 16 in 1977, 19 in 1989, 20 in 1991, 22 in 2016 and, most recently, 24 in 2023. Although the Courts of Justice Act provides that the Court is composed of 24 judges (23 puisne judges and one Chief Justice), the new position created at the Quebec City seat in 2023 has not been filled. Consequently, the Court is composed of 22 puisne judges and one Chief Justice. In addition, there can be a maximum of 20 supernumerary judges, although the number of supernumerary judges sitting on the Court varies from year to year.
Supernumerary judges are judges of the Court of Appeal who have chosen to give up their regular judicial duties in order to hold office as a supernumerary judge until their retirement, thereby having a lighter judicial workload. Supernumerary status has been authorized since the early 1970s, with the coming into force of the following statutes: federally, An Act to amend the Judges Act and the Financial Administration Act, S.C. 1970-71-72 (19-20 Eliz. II), c. 55, s. 6, and An Act to amend the Judges Act, R.S.C. 1970 (2nd Supp.), c. 16, s. 5, and in Quebec, An Act to amend the Courts of Justice Act, S.Q. 1972, c. 11, s. 1. It was not until 1980, however, that a judge of the Court of Appeal first opted to become a supernumerary judge.
Lastly, it should be noted that the Quebec Court of Appeal has been at its current Montreal location, the Ernest Cormier Building, since the summer of 2004. The first hearing there was held on August 11, 2004, before a judge sitting alone, and a few days later, on August 16, 2004, before a panel of three judges.
As for its current Quebec City location, the Court has occupied those premises since the Quebec City Courthouse opened in 1983.
Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal
The Quebec Court of Appeal is the general court of appeal for Quebec.
Its jurisdiction is very broad, as the Court may hear appeals from judgments in all matters from which an appeal lies throughout Quebec, unless the appeal falls within the jurisdiction of another court.
The right to appeal is a statutory one that exists only where expressly provided for by legislation. There is no appeal unless a statutory text creates such a right. This right is thus, first and foremost, a legislative choice. The finality of judgments, the need to end disputes within a reasonable time, and the costs involved in the judicial process justify limiting the right to appeal.
Unlike the superior courts of first instance, whose judges are federally appointed under s. 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867, Canadian appellate courts have no inherent jurisdiction that would allow them to create an appeal.
It is therefore incorrect to say and to believe that there is always a way to appeal a trial judgment. No right to appeal exists for any given matter unless the relevant legislature has established such a right.
Depending on the circumstances, an appeal may be asserted as of right or may be subject to obtaining leave (i.e., prior permission to appeal). In each case, one must refer to the legislative text that provides for the right to appeal.
Generally, where a statute establishes a right to appeal, the Court of Appeal performs its functions as a first appellate level for cases that have already been instituted, litigated and decided at trial. Sometimes, the Court of Appeal is called upon to act as a second appellate level. This is the case, for example, with respect to offences created by Quebec’s laws and regulations, such the Code of Penal Procedure, which provides for a first appeal, as of right, to the Quebec Superior Court.
The Court will intervene to review and, where applicable, reverse or vary the decisions submitted to it. The Court does not rule in the abstract. It does not give its opinion on theoretical questions, except in the special case of references submitted by the provincial government under the Court of Appeal Reference Act, CQLR, c. R-23.
The Court of Appeal has always had two seats, one in Montreal and one in Quebec City, where it holds all its hearings, as required by law.
As a general rule, the Court of Appeal exercises its jurisdiction through panels of three judges, but this number may be increased – usually to five – where the Chief Justice deems it appropriate. The Code of Civil Procedure does not limit the maximum number of judges who can sit on a panel, such that it is possible to imagine a situation in which the Chief Justice could ask all of the judges of the Court to do so. In such a case, the Court would be sitting in banco, although this has not happened in the recent history of the Quebec Court of Appeal.
To the extent possible, panels consist of appellate judges from both of the Court’s seats. The objective is straightforward: to make it possible for judges from both seats to work together and thereby prevent the development, over time, of two different ways of doing things, one in Montreal and the other in Quebec City.
Each panel is presided by the judge with the most seniority. To the right of that judge sits the second most senior judge and to the left the judge with the least seniority among the three. When the Chief Justice is part of the panel, she always presides over the hearing.
The Code of Civil Procedure and several specific statutes, both provincial and federal, also confer jurisdiction on a judge of the Court of Appeal sitting alone (a jurisdiction that is concurrent with that of the Court sitting as a panel) over certain matters, such as applications for leave to appeal, applications for the release of an appellant from custody pending the appeal, or case management matters.
In civil matters, the Quebec Court of Appeal hears appeals from final judgments of the Superior Court and of the Court of Québec as of right if the value of the subject matter of the dispute in appeal is $60,000 or more, or with leave in certain cases (for example: in matters of appeal for judicial review or execution).
The Court also hears appeals from various categories of Superior Court judgments in which a monetary value is not directly at stake.
In addition, the Court hears appeals from final judgments of the Court of Québec in matters over which that court has exclusive jurisdiction under legislation other than the Code of Civil Procedure, appeals from final judgments respecting contempt of court for which there is no other recourse available, appeals from judgments or orders in adoption matters, and final judgments respecting confinement in an institution or psychiatric assessments.
In civil matters, judgments rendered in the course of a proceeding (i.e., before the judgment that terminates the proceeding) may also be appealed, but only with leave, save for one exception: a judgment that disallows an objection to evidence, where that objection is based on the duty of discretion of public servants or on professional secrecy, is appealable as of right (art. 31 C.C.P.).
In criminal and penal matters, the Quebec Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear appeals from verdicts and sentences under the federal Criminal Code as well as under the provincial Code of Penal Procedure.
The list of federal and provincial statutes which, in addition to the Code of Civil Procedure, the Criminal Code and the Code of Penal Procedure, provide for an appeal as of right or with leave, depending on the circumstances, is long. It is a testament to the wide variety of topics that appeal judges are called upon to decide throughout their careers:
- Divorce Act
- Canada Business Corporations Act
- Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act
- Winding-up and Restructuring Act
- Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
- Canada Cooperatives Act
- Protection of Residential Mortgage or Hypothecary Insurance Act
- Cooperative Credit Associations Act
- Bank Act
- Trust and Loan Companies Act
- Insurance Companies Act
- Canada Elections Act
- Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
- Youth Protection Act
- Securities Act
- Mining Act
- Act respecting expropriation
- Act respecting the Commission municipal
- Winding-up Act
- Tax Administration Act
- Mining Tax Act
- Unclaimed Property Act
- Act respecting the regulation of the financial sector
- Money-Services Businesses Act
- Derivatives Act
All those who appear before the Quebec Court of Appeal may address its members in either of Canada’s official languages.
At the end of a hearing, the Court of Appeal may rule from the bench, i.e., at the hearing (by reading out short reasons that will often, but not always, be written down in the minutes of the hearing, or by entering the conclusions in the minutes of the hearing, with reasons to follow a few days later) or it can take the matter under advisement. Less often, the Court may adjourn the hearing for a few days (for example, from Tuesday to Friday morning of the same week), at which time it will announce its decision or take the matter under advisement.
The Supreme Court of Canada may grant leave to appeal from a decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal. The highest court in the land only grants leave to appeal against approximately ten decisions from Quebec each year. In other words, in the vast majority of cases, the Quebec Court of Appeal is the final arbiter of the matters brought before it. Exceptionally, in criminal matters, certain decisions of the Court of Appeal can be appealed as of right to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Quebec Court of Appeal has been sitting continuously since 1849. Its commitment to the concepts of judicial independence and impartiality, as well as its sustained efforts to ensure access to justice, make it one of today’s pillars of the rule of law in Quebec.