Description

The Commission des services juridiques is responsible for ensuring the application by the legal aid network, throughout Québec, of the Act respecting legal aid and the provision of certain other legal services.

Given the mixed nature of Québec’s legal aid system, the network has the dual mission of managing the overall legal aid system with private sector partners on the one hand, and providing direct legal services to the public on the other.

Consequently, the human resources that make up this network are undoubtedly the fundamental element and the cornerstone for achieving the objectives related to its mission.

The Commission des services juridiques, wishing to concretely acknowledge the annual public recognition of this reality, therefore created the “Commission des services juridiques Merit Awards” in order to highlight the exceptional contribution of employees or groups of employees who have distinguished themselves by their commitment, achievements and accomplishments in furtherance of the organization’s mission.

Four awards are presented:

• Two awards to a lawyer or to one or more teams of lawyers;

• Two awards to a member of the support staff and office employees, to a professional or to one or more groups of employees.

 

Documentation

Critères et processus d'attribution
(french only)
Fiche de mise en candidature
(french only)

2022
2020
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Winners 2018

It is with great pride that M^e Yvan Niquette, President of the Commission des services juridiques,presented the Prix Mérite of the Commission des services juridiques on November 16, in Montreal.

These awards aim at underlining the exceptional contribution of employees through theircommitment, their achievements, and their accomplishments with regard to the organization'smission.

Four awards are presented:

• Two awards, to a lawyer or to a team or teams of lawyers;

And new this year :

• Two awards, to a support staff member and office employee, a professional, or a group(s) of

employees.Translated

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Lawyer

Me Khalid M'Seffar

Photo: David Rousseau From left to right: Me Yvan Niquette, chairman of the CSJ, and Me Khalid M'Seffar recipient.

The Merit Award is presented to Me Khalid M’Seffar of the Laurentides-Lanaudière Community Legal Centre, who distinguished himself by handling an exceptional case both in terms of the extent of the legal work involved and the favourable outcome and in terms of the media coverage it received, which furthered the legal aid network's visibility. Me M’Seffar represented Mrs. Louise Sauvé in the case of Ville de Saint-Jérôme v. Sauvé, which was covered extensively by the media and in which the Court of Appeal agreed with him, allowing his client to assert a defence of reasonable care and error of fact in fighting a regulatory parking offence.

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Lawyer

Me Olivier Théorêt

Photo: David Rousseau From left to right: Me Yvan Niquette chairman of CSJ and Me Olivier Théorêt recipient.

The Merit Award is presented to Me Olivier Théorêt of the Saguenay-Lac St-Jean Community Legal Centre, who distinguished himself through his exceptional commitment and dedication, as demonstrated by his involvement in establishing the Programme d’accompagnement Justice santé mentale (PAJ-SM), which was launched on April 3, 2017, and by his ongoing involvement in a number of community organizations.

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Support staff

L’équipe du bureau criminel et pénal du Centre communautaire juridique de Montréal

Photo: David Rousseau From left to right: Me Yvan Niquette, chairman of the CSJ, Sageeth Thevamanoharan, Josée Ste-Marie, Nancy Jean, Lorraine Latreille, Audrey Panfili, Mirna Baroudy et Lynda Dehak, recipient and Me Richard La Charité.

1. The Merit Award is presented to the team of receptionists, eligibility specialists, paralegals and legal secretary in the criminal and penal section of the Montreal Community Legal Centre: Mirna Baroudy, receptionist, Marie-Ève Charland, paralegal, Mihaela Cojoc, paralegal, Lynda Dehak, eligibility specialist, Gabrielle Dubord, eligibility specialist, Nancy Jean, paralegal, Lorraine Latreille, paralegal, Solange Latreille, eligibility specialist, Sylvie Mallette, eligibility specialist, Audrey Panfili, receptionist, Mélissa Paz-Perdomo, legal secretary, Josée Ste Marie, eligibility specialist, Sageeth Thevamanoharan, eligibility specialist.

For their exceptional commitment and dedication in the wake of the Jordan and Cody rulings, as demonstrated by their creativity or innovation in performing their tasks, which contributed to the team as a whole. The team focused on innovating work methods, and their way of functioning was reassessed with the help of engineering and business management students, in partnership with the HEC Montréal. Through their teamwork and collective efforts they were able to catch up on backlogs in critical areas, which made it possible to issue 12,977 certificates and mandates to lawyers in private practice last year.

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Support staff

L’équipe du bureau immigration du Centre communautaire juridique de Montréal

Photo: David Rousseau From left to right: (front) Vira Vitkovska, Joanne Thibodeau, Farida Tran, Sylvie Tétreault, Annie Maisonneuve (back) Me Yvan Niquette, Mirianne Dubois, Jessica Sêna Dossou, Catherine Dumouchel, Bénédicte Koffi, Mandeep Kaur-Kaura, Julie Leblanc, Claudia Pineda and Me Richard La Charité.

The Merit Award is presented to the team of receptionists, eligibility specialists and paralegals in the immigration section of the Montreal Community Legal Centre: Mirianne Dubois, receptionist, Catherine Dumouchel, receptionist, Mandeep Kaur-Kaura, receptionist, Bénédicte Koffi, eligibility specialist, Julie Leblanc, eligibility specialist, Annie Maisonneuve, eligibility specialist, Claudia Pineda, eligibility specialist, Jessica Sêna Dossou, receptionist, Sylvie Tétreault, eligibility specialist, Joanne Thibodeau, eligibility specialist, Farida Tran Bahri, eligibility specialist and Vira Vitkovska, paralegal.  

For their exceptional commitment and dedication in the wake of the massive influx to Québec of asylum seekers from the United States, as demonstrated by their creativity or innovation in performing their tasks, which contributed to the team as a whole. The team found creative solutions to their various challenges in order to offer high quality professional services to their highly vulnerable clientele in a crisis situation and under the great pressure placed on them by their clientele and the lawyers representing asylum seekers. Through their teamwork and collective efforts they were able to process 13,368 legal aid applications this past year.

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