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 2025
October
Psychiatric Assessments
Following a court ruling concluding that there is good reason to believe that Olivia represents a danger to herself or to others due to her mental state and ordering that she be confined in an institution, Olivia must undergo a psychiatric assessment. She wonders exactly what this assessment will en
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September
Criminal Harassment: When Letting Go Is Essential
Breaking up with someone always causes problems, whether emotional, financial or even residential. These problems, however, pale in comparison to the legal problems that can result from a poorly handled break-up. Criminal harassment is a broad offence that is defined as committing any of the followi
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August
Child Custody: Superior Court Versus
Court of Québec (Youth Division)
Jasmine and John are the parents of two children, Julian and Julie. When they separated, the parents agreed to share custody of their two children and decided to have their agreement confirmed by a court. They therefore obtained a judgment from the Superior Court, Family Division.
Custody was
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July
The Right to Communicate of a Person Who Has Been Placed Under
Confinement in a Health Care Institution
Following a court ruling that Sophie represents a danger to herself or to others due to her mental state, she has been placed under confinement in a health care institution against her will. She wonders whether she will be able to contact her close relatives during her stay.
The Act respecting the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves or to others provides that any person placed under confinement in a health care institution may communicate with the persons of their choice. For example, the person can communicate with their spouse, children or close relatives during their stay.
However, the attending physician or a specialized nurse practitioner may decide to prohibit or restrict certain communications. This decision must be made in the interests of the person under confinement, and it can only be temporary.
If the attending physician or a specialized nurse practitioner imposes such a prohibition or restriction, it must be set out in writing and contain reasons.
Under this Act, the person placed under confinement must be given a copy of the prohibition or restriction, and a copy must also be noted in the person’s file.
That said, no communication restrictions may be imposed between the person under confinement and the following persons:
- The confined person’s representative
- The person qualified to give consent to the care required by the confined person’s state of health
- A lawyer
- The Public Curator
- The Administrative Tribunal of Québec
Finally, this Act stipulates that the person under confinement must be allowed to make all communications confidentially.
For any other information regarding your rights and recourses if you have been placed under confinement, don’t hesitate to contact the nearest legal aid office in your area. To find the contact information for your legal aid office, please click on the following link www.csj.qc.ca.
Legal brief *
July
2025
Number
07
Text prepared by Me Audrey Bachand
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.
April
Protecting Seniors from Economic Exploitation
With demographic aging, we are seeing a worrying increase in situations of financial exploitation of the elderly. This phenomenon manifests itself in various ways:
- Extortion of money: Individuals, often relatives, take advantage of their relationship of trust with seniors to cheat the
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March
I’ve Been Charged With Assault With a Weapon – Really?!?
Clara knows she has a hot temper, and her angry outbursts sometimes get her into trouble, which is exactly what happened a few weeks ago at her son Victor’s soccer game.
A parent from the opposing team wouldn’t stop shouting nonsense, and Clara couldn’t listen to the unbearable screaming any
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January
Repossession of a Rental Property
The owner of a dwelling who is the landlord of the dwelling may repossess it for specific reasons, in general, as a residence for the landlord or for ascendants or descendants in the first degree or for any other relative or person connected by marriage or a civil union of whom the landlord is the m
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