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 going well, until the Director of Youth Protection (hereinafter the “DYP”) accepted a report regarding physical abuse allegedly suffered by Julian while he was at his mother’s place.
In a meeting with the social worker, John is asked to assume custody of the two children while the DYP’s social worker assesses the report – i.e., for a period of about 60 days.
As for John, he has no concerns about Jasmine’s educational methods and does not think a change of custody is necessary under the circumstances.
Consequently, the DYP applies to the Court of Québec, Youth Division, to obtain a provisional judgment granting the father custody of the children and providing for contact between the children and their mother in accordance with conditions to be determined by the social worker.
With two judgments from two different courts (Superior Court, Family Division, and Court of Québec, Youth Division), John is confused about what to do when Jasmine tells him that she can pick up the children from school during the week she has custody, since she has joint custody of them pursuant to a judgment of the Superior Court.
Is Jasmine correct? Which judgment should the parties refer to in such a situation?
When a judgment is rendered in the Court of Québec, Youth Division, it takes precedence over a judgment rendered in the Superior Court, Family Division, and it does so for the duration indicated in the Court of Québec judgment. Thus, when a child’s situation is before the courts, even though the Superior Court and the Court of Québec have concurrent jurisdiction, the effects of the Superior Court judgment are, in a sense, put on ice. It is now the judgment of the Court of Québec, Youth Division, that takes precedence with regards to custody.
Therefore, Jasmine cannot pick up the children from school as she claims. John could provide the school with a copy of the judgment of the Court of Québec, Youth Division, granting him custody of the children, so as to prevent Jasmine from showing up at school and misleading the staff by leaving with the children.
If the DYP’s assessment of the report regarding the physical abuse of Julian concludes that the facts are unfounded, and the DYP withdraws from the children’s lives, the judgment of the Superior Court, Family Division, will take effect once again and will automatically revert to being the judgment in effect between the parties. Shared custody could then resume without any further action being required.
Legal brief *
August
2025
Number
08
Text prepared by Me Jessica Boucher-Tremblay
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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