Judge

I’ve been a judge for several years now. Before being named a judge at the Court of Quebec, I was a lawyer and practiced civil law. All the judges of the Court of Quebec, Civil Division, take turns sitting in the Small Claims Division.

I enjoy the direct contact that I get with members of the public when I sit in the Small Claims Division. I really feel that I am rendering justice. In this court, people aren’t represented by lawyers. I can, and must, help each of them in a fair and impartial manner so that the law is clearly stated and upheld.

In the courtroom, I’m the one who makes all of the decisions in a case: I ask witnesses questions and I decide which of the documents submitted by the parties are useful to the case and which are not. Of course, I have to follow the rules of evidence, but I have a lot of freedom to decide how the hearing will unfold. Above all, I want to uncover the truth: I want to know what really happened in the case that is before me.

Most people who come before me are unfamiliar with the law and the legal system. It is up to me to help them understand, in only a few minutes, the basic rules governing the hearing, especially the one that says that each party must be allowed to speak in turn – without being interrupted. Just this morning, I presided over a case about a dog bite. The defendant was constantly interrupting the plaintiff, and was fairly aggressive about it. At one point, I even had to interfere and ask him to stop interrupting so that we could go on with the hearing.

Before the hearing about the dog bite, I had read the documents that the parties, Claude and Geneviève, had submitted into evidence. I already had a fairly clear idea about their dispute from the documents that I had read. But, during the hearing, one of them started talking about a document that hadn’t been included in the evidence that I had read. I had to remind the parties that I could only base my decision on the evidence that was before me. Since I didn’t have the so-called document and it was never mentioned in any of the written proceedings made by the parties, I couldn’t take it into account. The person who wanted me to have the document explained that he initially thought that it wasn’t useful but because of the different events that had unfolded since then, it became important to file the document in question. I decided to allow him to file the document into the court record and gave the other person enough time to see it.

During a hearing, if the situation permits it, I also try to reconcile the parties.

Once I have a good idea of the situation, I apply the rules of law and arrive at a decision. Finally, I make a judgment – either in court, before the parties, or in writing, in my office later on. The clerk will send the parties a copy of this judgment.