PRESS RELEASE

By Order in Council of the Government of Quebec bearing number 1409-2022, the following questions have been referred to the Court of Appeal for hearing and consideration:

1. Considering the responsibilities that R. v. Jordan, [2016] 1 S.C.R. 631, places on courts of justice regarding the observance of reasonable time limits in criminal matters and considering the judicial independence of courts of justice, can the Chief Justice of the Court of Québec unilaterally decide, in exercising the power conferred notably by s. 137 of the Courts of Justice Act (chapter T-16), to reduce the number of days on which the judges assigned to the Criminal and Penal Division sit, which will have the effect of lengthening judicial delays?
   
   In the affirmative, what are the limits on this power imposed by the responsibilities that R. v. Jordan, [2016] 1 S.C.R. 631, places on courts of justice?
    

This Order in Council was filed with the Office of the Court of Appeal for the District of Montreal under docket No. 500-09-030125-223 on July 7, 2022.

Pursuant to section 4 of the Court of Appeal Reference Act, all attorneys general have until August 22, 2022, to file a representation statement with the Office of the Court of Appeal and notify it to the Attorney General of Quebec at the following address:

Bernard, Roy (Justice - Québec)
1 Notre-Dame Street East, Suite 8.00
Montreal, Quebec H2Y 1B6

Notification by email: bernardroy@justice.gouv.qc.ca

Any other intervention must be effected by written application of no more than 5 pages addressed to the Chief Justice and filed with the Office of the Court of Appeal no later than August 26, 2022. The application must set out the purpose of and reasons for the intervention, as well as the conditions of intervention, including the filing of evidence. The application must be notified to the parties who have filed a representation statement, in accordance with s. 25 of the Civil Practice Regulation (Court of Appeal).

Subsequently, the Chief Justice will hold a case management conference to determine, if necessary, the authorized interventions and their conditions and to prepare a timetable for the conduct of the case.