Québec’s legal system has a very interesting cultural and legal history in that both were heavily influenced by a combination of the French custom of written law and the British tradition of oral and case law. Originally a territory belonging to the French Crown, Québec
Québec’s legal system has a very interesting cultural and legal history in that both were heavily influenced by a combination of the French custom of written law and the British tradition of oral and case law. Originally a territory belonging to the French Crown, Québec’s local authorities adopted in 1664 the “Coutume de Paris” as the main body of law governing the French settlement of “La Nouvelle France”. These customs were complemented by local customs, canon law and royal edicts. With the British influence arriving in North America and their victory over the French in Nouvelle France, British law was imposed on the territory. However, a short time later, the British allowed the French population to carry on with their language, religion and laws for civil matters, and thus the systems of French “civil law” and British “Common Law” began to co-exist in the same territory.
The of law of La Nouvelle France (or then under its newer name of “Lower-Canada”) remained a somewhat informal body of customs until the adoption of its first official codification in 1866 under the name of the Civil Code of Lower Canada – C.c.L-C., which was influenced by the French Napoleonic Code of 1804, the Louisiana Civil Code and some British common law. The Civil Code of Lower Canada consolidated these different sources and created a body of law that was more suited to the local society. As the C.c.L-C. evolved over the years it was modified several times and influenced by various factors including new social, economic and political realities in Québec as well as globalization. The C.c.L-C. continues to evolve with the last major modification having been adopted on January 1, 1994 and set out in the new Québec Civil Code.
The Quebec civil law system is therefore based on written law. The concepts are somewhat static and cases must look to the law to interpret the rules and find a solution to the problems set before the courts. Conversely, the “Common Law” system is founded on the resolution of situations where the of rule law has always existed, but is in constant process of being “discovered”. This body of law consists of the compilation of solutions consecrated in judgements and gathered over time. It is from this constantly evolving body of law that solutions are found to resolve issues.
As the rest of the Canadian territory matured and developed its body of laws under the British traditions, Québec maintained its ties with the French civil tradition. Even as the nation of Canada was officially born in 1865 with the adoption its Constitution, the province of Québec maintained the pluralist nature of its legal system. The Canadian Constitution formalised agreements between the provinces and created a central federal system, dividing legislative powers by granting exclusive jurisdiction to the provincial authorities over various domains, most notably over civil matters. We therefore find in the province of Québec a body of civil laws governing certain aspects of the law, a body of provincial statutory provisions complimented by the civil law, and a body of federal laws steeped in English Common Law traditions.
It is not unusual therefore that a 