Superior Court of Québec: Divisional Meeting (Québec) - Soft Skills and Judicial Know-How: Food for Thought 2022

Overview

This educational training meeting was for the judges of the Québec City division of the Superior Court of Québec. It covered a range of subjects and issues relevant to their functions, including substantive law, competencies and knowledge of the social context.  

Objectives

The training session aimed to deepen the participating judges’ knowledge of substantive law, to strengthen their know-how and soft skills, and to induce them to reflect critically on their perceptions of cultural, social and economic contexts, in order to better equip them to meet the challenges that can arise both inside and outside the courtroom.

Summary

The meeting began with an examination of the validity of separation agreements in family law, before dealing with the social and legal history of the LGBTQ2S+ community in Québec and the semantics and basic concepts involved in labelling sexual diversity. This was followed by a review of applications for treatment authorization, in which stakeholders from the various sectors involved in such applications participated. Practical workshops dealt among other things with how to handle applications for recusal and the principles governing contempt of court. The program culminated with a presentation aimed at raising the participating judges’ awareness of the major challenges facing Québec in the coming decade and beyond and how to meet them, with a particular emphasis on the impact that changing demographics will have on Québec society.