L’affaire Plamondon : un cas d’antisémitisme à Québec au début du xxe siècle

L’affaire Plamondon compte parmi les procès célèbres de l’histoire judiciaire québécoise. Cette affaire commence par une conférence à caractère antisémite prononcée à Québec, en 1910, par Jacques-Édouard Plamondon. Au cours des semaines qui suivent, la presse se divise et des Juifs sont victimes d’agressions. Deux Juifs, qui souhaitent éviter que les choses dégénèrent, intentent une poursuite en dommages-intérêts pour libelle diffamatoire. L’action est rejetée en première instance, mais accueillie en appel. Au regard du droit, ce procès suscite de l’intérêt en ce qu’il reflète les tensions qui divisent la société, révèle la confiance que la communauté juive met dans l’institution judiciaire et amène une reconnaissance, en certaines circonstances, de la diffamation collective. Ce procès est aussi une illustration des formes spécifiques que constituent le scandale, l’affaire et la cause suivant une approche sociologique.The Plamondon case stands out among the famous trials in Québec judicial history. The case stemmed from anti-Semitic content in a lecture delivered in Québec by Jacques-Édouard Plamondon in 1910. During the weeks following the lecture, members of the press were at odds with one another and some Jews fell victim to agression. Two members of the Jewish community, seeking to avoid an increasingly embittered situation, took legal action on grounds of defamation. The suit was quashed in court of first instance, then reinstated on appeal. At law, this case raises interest since it sheds light on tensions that rend society, underscores the trust that the Jewish community invests in the courts and leads to a partial recognition in given circumstances of collective defamation. The proceedings also illustrate the specific forms of scandal, controversy and cause seen from a sociological viewpoint

Une relecture de l'arrêt Matamajaw Salmon Club

The case of Matamajaw Salmon Club v. Duchaine1 certainly remains one of the notorioustly outstanding decisions on a civil law issue handed down by the Privy Council. For many, the decision seems difficult to reconciliate with the civil law concept of ownership. None the less, most authors and judges attempt to minimize the incoherency. Here the decision is first presented and then the ration decidendi is analysed while its impact on the concept of property is considered

Une analyse quantitative de la doctrine en droit civil québécois

Scholarly writings may be considered as one of the sources of the law of Québec. A minor source compared, for instance, to the decisions of the courts, but nevertheless a source. The following paper is an unpretentious attempt to quantify rather than qualify Québec legal writers' contributions to such source as regards civil law only. It takes into account treatises, monographies including unpublished thesis, and articles

Tradition et modernité à la Faculté de droit de l'Université Laval de 1945 à 1965

Durant deux décennies, soit de 1945 à 1965, la Faculté de droit de l'Université Laval connaît une évolution marquante. Au début de la période, la Faculté est caractérisée par un attachement à la tradition. Les quelques velléités de changement qui se manifestent sont farouchement combattues. À la Révolution tranquille, alors que la société québécoise vit une mutation, la Faculté est l'objet d'une remise en question globale. Sous la pression des étudiants, qui bénéficient d'un important appui populaire, les autorités facultaires doivent alors accepter des changements profonds.For two decades—from 1945 to 1965 — the Laval University Law Faculty was to undergo profounds changes. At the outset, the school was shrouded in a veil of tradition and whatever hints of change to be manifested were fiercely combatted. With the onset of the Quiet Revolution, when Quebec society itself was in profound transition, the law Faculty becomes the subject of indepth questioning. Under pressure from the student body — which benefitted from widespread popular support—Faculty authorities were to acquiesce to substantial changes

Les travaux préparatoires et l'interprétation du Code civil du Québec

Long rejected as a means of interpretation of the Civil Code, the travaux préparatoires have recently been rehabilitated ; henceforth nothing will be opposed to the consultation of the Codiflers' Reports or of the Report on the Québec Civil Code by the Civil Code Revision Office. Parliamentary debates, however, are not yet to be quoted. But, taking into account the restrictive interpretation recently given to Reader's Digest case, in addition to what the preamble of the Act to establish a new Civil Codeand to reform family law expresses, the author considers it justified to come back to the Journal des Débats to light the finality of certain dispositions ulterior to Office Report

Justice civile et communauté rurale au Québec, 1880-1920

At the turn of the century, civil justice in rural communities was organized into three non-judicialized instances : 1) the Commissioners' Court, 2) the Court of Justices of the Peace and 3) Conciliation measures. In this paper the institutional characteristics of these three community-type instances are examined. A study of available judicial statistics indicates that the level of activity of these instances went through a pronounced decline during the period between 1880 and 1920, specifically because of the high inflation rate. A brief study of judicial records of the Commissioners' Court of Saint-Raymond de Portneuf makes it possible to draw a profile of those who came under the jurisdiction of this kind of court. An examination of legal commentary and judgements on applications for the writ of certiorari reveals the perception that the legal world then had of rural justice

Le Code et la protection du consommateur

Durant longtemps, le Code civil a régi, presque à lui seul, les relations contractuelles de caractère privé. Il s'est avéré cependant que le régime juridique mis en place au milieu du XIXe siècle, s'il avait répondu aux besoins d'une société libérale, ne pouvait convenir aux exigences d'une société de consommation sans conduire à de graves injustices. L'avènement de la société de consommation eut un effet non négligeable sur le droit privé. D'une part, l'idéologie libérale, qui avait été l'une des pierres d'assise du Code, était ébranlée et, d'autre part, la technique de codification, souvent présentée comme un achèvement, était battue en brèche. La présente étude se penche, tour à tour, sur cette double remise en question. Le droit de la consommation sert ici à illustrer des problèmes trop peu souvent discutés, notamment les relations entre le droit privé et le Code, la capacité du Code à s'adapter aux mutations socio-économiques et le phénomène d'hybridation auquel n'échappe pas le droit privé.For many years, the Civil Code — virtually by itself — governed questions relating to private contractual relationships. Yet it happened that where the legal framework instituted in the mid-19th century satisfied the needs of that liberal society, it could no longer suit the requisites of a consumers' society without leading to serious injustices. The arrival of the consumers' society had a significant effect on private law. On the one hand, the liberal ideology which had been the keystone underlying the Code, was shaken and, on the other, the technique of codification which had often been presented as a culmination, was discredited. This study investigates in turn these two unsettling factors. Consumer law serves to illustrate problems that are all too often neglected, especially the relationship between private law and the Code, the Code's capacity to be adapted to socio-economic changes and the phenomenon of hybridization which private law cannot escape