Court of Appeal of Québec: Annual General Meeting 2022

Overview

This annual general meeting allowed the judges of the Court of Appeal of Québec to examine a subject of interest for their practice: writing judgments.

Objectives

The objectives of this program were to help the Court of Appeal’s judges improve their writing skills, provide them with practical tools for their judicial role as writers and give them the opportunity to review their working methods together.

Summary

Centered around judgment writing, this training session focused on practical drafting tools and included discussions on the Court’s working methods. On the first day of the program, a judge of the Court shared his thoughts on writing judgments, and subsequently a panel of jurists engaged in an external appraisal of the judgments rendered by the Court. On the second day, participants discussed topics and current trends relevant to judgment-writing, including gender-neutral writing, clear and concise writing, writing-assistance technology and editing techniques. Finally, the judges of the Court had the opportunity to review drafting techniques and concepts in light of the teachings of a professor and professional writer.