Legal Information/ Legal Briefs
Legal Briefs
Until 2010, these legal briefs provide examples of judgments pertaining to everyday situations. Beginning in 2012, they deal with various topics of general interest, such as rental issues, family law, human rights, civil liability, insurance, dealings between spouses and social aid. They are intended to inform and to prevent undesirable situations.
Legal Briefs 2024
November
Sexual Abuse Within the Meaning of the Youth Protection Act 
The role of the Director of Youth Protection is to protect children whose security or development is in danger.
Section 38 of the Youth Protection Act sets out the grounds on which the security and development of a child is considered to be in danger:
“38. For the purposes of this Act, the security or development of a child is considered to be in danger if the child is in a situation of abandonment, neglect, psychological ill-treatment, exposure to domestic violence or sexual or physical abuse, or if the child has serious behavioural disturbances.”
This legal brief will deal more specifically with the notion of sexual abuse within the meaning of the Youth Protection Act.
The Youth Protection Act sets out the following regarding this ground:
“In this Act:
[…]
(d) ‘sexual abuse’ refers to
(1) a situation in which the child is subjected to gestures of a sexual nature by the child’s parents or another person, with or without physical contact, including any form of sexual exploitation, and the child’s parents fail to take the necessary steps to put an end to the situation;
[…]”
The notion of sexual abuse therefore necessarily implies the following elements:
- One or more gestures of a sexual nature;
- With or without physical contact;
- Carried out by one of the child’s parents or another person.
As the Act does not define the notion of sexual abuse or gesture of a sexual nature, we must turn to court decisions on the subject.
Courts have stated that one must determine if the gesture in question was inappropriate in light of the child’s age or development. The entire situation must be assessed based on generally accepted social values.
The analysis is both subjective, since it has to take the child into account, and objective, since it must also consider what an independent third party would consider socially acceptable.
Furthermore, the state of mind or intention of the person alleged to have committed the abuse is irrelevant for the purpose of determining whether or not sexual abuse has occurred. It is therefore not necessary to prove any form of malicious or wrongful intent.
For example, sexual abuse was found to have occurred where a father had engaged in sexual intercourse in a room separated from his 13-year-old daughter’s bedroom only by a curtain, even though he had had no intention of exposing her to his activities. The judge determined that this involved recklessness, negligence or indifference with respect to the teenager’sneeds.
A danger to the security or development of a child exists when the consequences of the abuse are still present at the time the case is heard by the court.
Lastly, it should be noted that the notion of sexual abuse in child protection matters is very different from that in criminal matters. Consequently, even if the alleged gestures did not give rise to criminal charges or are not criminal in and of themselves, there may still be a danger to the child’s security or development within the meaning of the Youth Protection Act.
Legal brief *
November
2024
Number
10
Text prepared by Me Roseline Bouchard-Zee
Update by CSJ
* The information set out in this document is not a legal interpretation.
The masculine is used to designate persons solely in order to simplify the text.
October
HAS or SARPA, which applies to me?
HOMOLOGATION ASSISTANCE SERVICE - (H A S)
The Homologation Assistance Service is intented for parties residing in Quebec who wish, for whatever reason, to modify arrangements pertaining to child custody or access rights or support involving a child or spouse (or former spouse), where t
more
August
Neighbourhood disturbances between tenants
You’ve been renting a new apartment for a few months and the neighbours are too noisy.
According to article 1854 of the Civil Code of Québec (hereinafter the “C.C.Q.”), landlords,also referred to as lessors, have the obligation to provide their tenants with peaceableenjoyment of their dwel
more
May
Social Assistance - Understanding the New Basic Income Program
Social assistance, social solidarity, basic income – it’s easy to get lost in the many government programs available to people experiencing difficulties.
The Quebec government has established two programs for the province’s residents who are in a precarious situation: (1) The Social Assistanc
more
April
De Facto Spouses* and financial eligibility for legal aid
Lea and William are the parents of a 15-year-old girl named Rose. Rose chose to live with her father when her parents split up two years ago. She now wants to move in with her mother and Annabelle, her mother’s partner, but her father disagrees. Rose’s mother thus quickly makes an appointment with a
more
January
Can a police complaint be withdrawn?
Perhaps you filed a police complaint against someone a few days ago and now wish to withdraw it. You should know that it may not be possible to do so.
First, it’s important to understand that when police receive a complaint, theygenerally conduct an investigation to gather as much evidence as
more