Quebec judge worries about language law, says it will cause ‘unnecessary delays’ on English routes

A Quebec judge overseeing the trial of a person accused of killing a cyclist with his car has expressed concern that a change to the province’s language charter could cause “unnecessary delays” to legal proceedings in are held in English.

“For individuals seeking justice, especially in the English-speaking community, these new laws have been problematic. They make things more expensive, they make things take more time. It is a problem,” says Geneviève Gray, lawyer.

Quebec Court Justice Dennis Galiatsatos wrote in a 17-page ruling that he is concerned about an amendment that takes effect June 1 that would require a French translation of any written judgment into English “immediately and without delay.”

He said the upcoming trial, which will take place in English, will likely have to wait several additional weeks or months for the final decision, even if it will be ready before then because the translation will have to be done by the court.

I had the experience in a criminal court of a judge who said: look, it will go faster if I express this in French. Would you like me to display it in French or English? And I say, look, I’d rather have it faster for my client, who needs justice faster,” Gray said.

“So, you know, I, and it’s not just in the criminal courts, it’s everywhere, you know, we have to worry every time we get official documents and documents in English that we have to produce as evidence in specific files . Oh, do we need to get this translated? There have been all kinds of issues that have happened recently that I can personally attest to, making the legal system more burdensome for individuals seeking justice.”

The Supreme Court’s landmark 2016 ruling in Jordan set strict limits on the length of trials before they violate a person’s right to a speedy trial.

The judge said the new language laws could derail English trials in the province — if defendants file Jordan motions every time the translation causes a delay.

“In serious criminal cases, it is not in the interest of society to allow these cases to fail due to time delays. These are, for example, serious criminal cases. Cases may arise, and especially as defense lawyers it could be good for us in the sense that we can rely more on the Jordanian rule, but that is not the case. necessarily healthy for our system.”

Last week, Judge Galiatsatos contacted the attorneys general of Canada and Quebec to raise the constitutional issue and asked them to submit written submissions to the court by May 14.

“I really commend the judge for taking that position and making that known, because I agree with that, I agree with him wholeheartedly. I think this is a problem for criminal law. I think it’s a problem for our entire justice system.”