Regard sur la common law au Québec: perspective et cadrage (Perspectives on the Common Law in Quebec)

Abstract

French Abstract: Existe-t-il une common law proprement québécoise? Outre le cadre législatif propre au Québec, deux facteurs accentuent le caractère distinctif de la common law dans cette province. Le premier facteur est linguistique, sinon culturel. La jurisprudence de common law s'élabore au Québec en français, le plus souvent. Ce cadre linguistique fait en sorte, d'une part, que la jurisprudence des autres provinces n'a pas toujours au Québec la valeur persuasive qu'elle pourrait y avoir autrement, et d'une part, que la jurisprudence de common law québécoise est souvent ignorée hors du Québec lorsqu'elle est rédigée en français. L'autre facteur, c'est le cadre normatif, l'ensemble de sources différentes, et la culture juridique mixte dans lesquels elle s'inscrit.

English Abstract: Does a unique form of the common law exist in Quebec, a civil law jurisdiction? The author argues that two factors contribute to the distinctive character of the common law in Quebec. The first is linguistic; common law jurisprudence in Quebec is largely written in French. This has led to a gulf between common law judgments written in English in the other Canadian provinces, not given as much persuasive authority in Quebec, and common law judgments written in French in Quebec which are largely ignored outside of the province. This linguistic and cultural obstacle suggests that public law evolves on separate, often parallel but occasionally divergent, tracks. The second, systemic factor has to do with the constant acculturation of the common law in Quebec that helps to shape its contours. Both factors have helped to shape a unique role for the common law in Quebec’s mixed legal tradition.

Note: Downloadable document is in French.