Recording

In Quebec, a digital recording system preserves what is said in every courtroom. Contrary to what we see in old movies, a stenographer does not type out what every person in the courtroom says. You will never hear the judge saying "Please read me the witness’s statement" or "This witness's statement shall be struck from the Court record".

In real life, the recordings of a trial can serve many purposes. Here are some examples:

• A lawyer can re-play a portion of a witness’s testimony to prove that he is contradicting his previous statement about the color of the accused’s clothing.
  
• A journalist can properly quote the statement of an expert witness in a trial.
  
• A member of the public can listen to what was said in a trial in which his neighbour was accused of running a brothel.

The way that the recording system works is quite simple. All of the courtrooms are hooked up to a digital recording system through a network of microphones, wires, and loudspeakers. The court clerk begins the recording at the beginning of the hearing. He stops it during recesses and at the end of the hearing.

Getting a recording: where, when, and how

To obtain a recording, you must go to the Court house where the trial took place. There is a person in charge of recordings there. At the counter, you will fill out a form where you will specify the date of the hearing, the room number, the name of the judge and the exact time when the hearing started and ended. If you are unsure, you can consult the "minutes" of the hearing (also known as "procès-verbal" or "p.-v.").

The "minutes" are a document prepared by the court clerk in order to give an overall view of the trial. You can consult the minutes by going to the office of the clerk ("greffe") of the relevant court. Sometimes, the person in charge of recordings can give you the minutes.

There is another benefit to consulting the minutes of a trial: you can find out the exact time at which the testimony or the pleadings that you need began. That way, you won’t have to pay for unwanted parts of a recording.

A recording costs $0.30 per minute. You have to specify whether you prefer a CD or a CD-ROM. Plan ahead of time since it can take at least 3 days before it is ready.

For criminal and penal cases, you have an added option: you can ask for a transcript (written version) of the desired portion of the trial. It will cost you $3.70 per page and will take at least 30 days.

If you need the official transcript of a trial for other types of cases, you can start by getting the recording. Then, you can hire an official stenographer to transcribe what is said on the recording. Sometimes, it is necessary to obtain an official transcript to use in court.

A few restrictions

You cannot have access to all trial recordings. For example, the public cannot have access to hearings held "in camera" such as family matters heard in Superior Court and matters involving children and youth, heard in the Youth Division of the Court of Quebec.

There are also special rules for each Court. For example, at the Superior Court and Court of Quebec levels, the judge can decide to pronounce her judgment verbally. That judgment will have the same effect as if it had been written down. In those cases, you cannot obtain a recording of the verbal judgment unless you first obtain the permission of the judge who pronounced it.