Judge

I have been a judge at the Court of Québec for almost 12 years now. I always wanted to be a judge. The job always attracted me because of the nobility of the judge’s mission: to find the truth and do justice. Criminal law is my specialty. Before being appointed, when I was a lawyer, I worked as a Crown prosecutor. I’ve argued all kinds of cases, from shoplifting to murder. These years of criminal law practice prepared me well for being a judge at the Court of Québec in this field. Since becoming a judge, I have been assigned almost exclusively to criminal cases.

Every day, my functions oblige me to make decisions. It’s a good thing that I am comfortable with decision-making. Obviously, some decisions are harder to make than others. For example, during a hearing for interim release, deciding whether to release or detain a person accused of a violent crime while he awaits his trial is difficult. The law provides that the accused is presumed to be innocent at this stage and if I have any doubt as to his dangerousness, I have to set him free. In these cases the difficulty is not in rendering the judgment, but in living with the consequences of that decision afterwards. Sexual assault cases involving young children often mean difficult decisions for me as well. During these kinds of hearings, it is important to stay calm and respect everyone present. By keeping control of the people in the courtroom, I encourage a respectful environment and this helps greatly with the administration of justice.

On the other hand, technical files like fraud or drug cases, which are usually less emotionally charged, touch me less on a personal level. These cases require a different approach and the arguments are based more on questions of law. The jurist in me finds these cases very interesting and intellectually stimulating.

When I put on my robe and bands, I try to detach myself from the normal me and adopt the role of judge. I have to leave my prejudices and personal opinions outside the courtroom and move beyond my moral opinions in order to judge in an impartial way, without taking sides. As a judge, I am not out to defend my interests, nor the interests of any other person or group. I apply the law. Paradoxically, I think that to judge well, it is important to have a certain amount of life experience as well as an open mind. My personality has to serve as a background for my role as judge, without distracting or influencing me when it is time to decide.

In certain cases over which I preside, I have to deal with the media following and reporting on the proceedings. The presence of the media doesn’t bother me and doesn’t influence my decisions. Still, the media only rarely take the time to really explain the principles underlying legal decisions. All the more reason why I should express myself as clearly as possible in my decisions. An important one hundred page judgment could be covered by a news report that lasts for only a minute and a half. Let’s be realistic: some legal ideas cannot be explained in just a few seconds.

Being well understood also becomes important when my decisions are contested on appeal. I can easily live with the possibility that an appeal court will tell me I made a mistake in a decision. But when a decision is reversed because I did not express myself well in the judgment and the appeal court is not able to understand my reasoning, that is a difficult pill to swallow. That is when I have the impression that I have not done my job well.

No matter what the downsides of my profession might be, I love being a judge. It is a fascinating job. I am very proud to have become a judge; in some ways it is the ultimate achievement in a jurist’s career. But I have to go now – they are waiting for me in the courtroom.