Latest news with #QuebecCourtOfAppeal
CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
Guatemalan man's estate entitled to redress after court says death was linked to work
The Quebec Court of Appeal is seen in Montreal, on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) MONTREAL — Quebec's Court of Appeal has ruled that the family of a Guatemalan farm worker crushed to death in 2021 trying to repair a flat tire on his employer's car is entitled to compensation. The high court ruled in majority 2-1 decision that Ottoniel Lares Batzibal was on the job when he died and his estate should have been compensated. Previously, Quebec's workers health and safety board, the CNESST, had denied the claim because they didn't believe the death fit the criteria of a workplace death. The estate eventually was granted leave to appeal the matter before the Court of Appeal. In the July 31 ruling, two of the three-judge panel ruled the worker's death was an occupational injury and the appeal should be allowed. Batzibal died on July 18, 2021, after becoming trapped under a car in the garage of a fruit and vegetable farm south of Quebec City where he'd worked for several years. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025.
CTV News
11-07-2025
- CTV News
Supreme Court overturns second trial for Quebec man in wife's death
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on June 3, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) MONTREAL — The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a Quebec man convicted of manslaughter in the death of his spouse will not face a second trial. The country's highest court overturned the Quebec Court of Appeal's decision to grant a new trial for Pascal Varennes. In 2020, Varennes was acquitted of second-degree murder but found guilty of manslaughter in the December 2015 death of his wife, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. The prosecution challenged the verdict, questioning the judge's decision to hold the trial without a jury. The Quebec Court of Appeal sided with the prosecution in 2023 and ordered that Varennes be retried. However, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the trial judge. By opting for a trial without a jury, the judge avoided delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have resulted in a violation of the accused's Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2025. By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture, The Canadian Press
CTV News
11-07-2025
- CTV News
Quebec Court of Appeal authorizes plaintiff to pursue civil action against Robert Miller
The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a March 2024 Superior Court ruling dismissing an $8-million sexual assault civil lawsuit against billionaire Robert Miller. The plaintiff claimed that as of age 17, and for several years, she had been the victim of a network of sexual exploitation of underage girls set up and operated by Miller and his associates. She was allegedly led to offer sexual services to Miller in exchange for luxury gifts, remuneration and travel. The Superior Court ruled that she could not pursue the lawsuit because she had accepted $50,000 during a meeting with Miller's lawyer. The plaintiff claimed the money was given to her as a gift, which the judge had rejected. By overturning the ruling, the Court of Appeal has given the plaintiff the right to sue Miller. The Court of Appeal said in its ruling that the plaintiff met with the billionaire's lawyer in Montreal after Radio-Canada broadcast an investigation revealing the details of Miller's case in 2023. He has been accused of sexually exploiting underage girls or girls who have recently come of age. According to the plaintiff, Miller offered her $50,000 to drop her civil lawsuit. His lawyer suggested that she consult a lawyer before making her decision, and she was advised not to sign any documents. The plaintiff received an envelope containing $50,000 and left the lawyer's office without signing a receipt. According to the Court of Appeal, the fact that the claimant did not sign any documents entitles her to pursue legal action against the 81-year-old head of Future Electronics. 'Ultimately, the fact that the appellant chose to keep this sum rather than return it does not prove that a transaction took place ... nor does it mean that she waived her civil action against the respondents. It therefore does not render her action inadmissible against them,' the court said in its ruling. A criminal case against Miller came to a halt last month after a Quebec Superior Court judge stayed charges against him, saying his Parkinson's disease is too advanced for him to stand trial. He faced 24 sex-related charges involving 11 women. Many of the complainants were minors when the alleged offences occurred. Back in January, a Quebec Superior Court judge authorized a separate class-action lawsuit against Miller over allegations he paid minors for sex. In November 2024, a lawyer said 51 women had already come forward to participate in the suit.
CBC
31-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Quebec seeks leave to appeal school board reform ruling to Supreme Court of Canada
Quebec will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal lower court rulings that found a provincial law abolishing school boards violates English-language minority education rights. A spokesperson for Quebec's justice minister confirmed this week the province will appeal a ruling from the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered in April.T That ruling upheld a Quebec Superior Court decision from August 2023 which found the province's law abolishing school boards violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law, known as Bill 40, was adopted in February 2020 and transformed French schools boards, which were governed by elected commissioners, into service centres run by a board of directors overseen by the province. The Court of Appeal said last month that the law "radically alters the mission of these school service centres compared to school boards." The law's measures affecting English school boards were stayed pending the outcome of the court challenge.
