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 entail, and which professional will perform it.
First, it should be noted that a psychiatric assessment consists of two examination reports, which must be completed within the strict time limits prescribed by law in such circumstances.
Article 29 of the Civil Code of Québec specifies what a psychiatricexamination covers:
“A psychiatric examination report must deal in particular with the necessity of confining the person in an institution if he is a danger to himself or to others owing to his mental state, with the ability of the person who has undergone the examination to care for himself or to administer his property and, where applicable, with the advisability of instituting tutorship to a person of full age, or obtaining homologation of a protection mandate, for him.”
Moreover, the Act respecting the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves or to others specifies that a report made following a psychiatric examination must be signed by the examining physician.
The physician who prepares the report must also state:
- that he himself has examined the person;
- the date of the examination;
- his diagnosis, even if only provisional, concerning the mental state of the person;
- his opinion as to the gravity and probable consequences of the person’s mentalstate; and
- the reasons and facts upon which his opinion and diagnosis are based and, among the facts mentioned, those which he himself has observed and those which have been communicated to him by others.
A psychiatric examination must be carried out by a psychiatrist. However, if it is not possible to obtain the services of a psychiatrist in due time, the examination may be carried out by any other physician.
In all cases, the law stipulates that the psychiatrist or physician performing the examination may not be the spouse, a close relative or relative by marriage or a civil union or the representative of the person undergoing the examination.
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.
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To find the contact information for your legal aid office, please click on the following link www.csj.qc.ca.
Legal brief *
October
2025
Number
10
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.
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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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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