Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A p r i l 2 0 1 4 9 and nomination of administrative judges as well as for the renewal of their mandates. Such a reform would remove the judges from under the authority of the Secrétariat aux emplois supérieurs (a sec- retariat of high posts), which advises and reports directly to the executive council. They would instead be ruled by a new body, which would report to Quebec's National Assembly and have the respon- sibility to set up the rules governing the nomination and renewal processes. An administrative judge should be able to render a decision without having to worry about the repercussion on his or her career if his or her decision upsets the government, says the CJAQ. In a radio interview, Daniel Pelletier, a judge at the Commission des lésions pro- fessionnelles, brought forward the example of Suzanne Cloutier, who was judge and vice president at the Commission de pro- tection du territoire agricole, an adminis- trative board created for the preservation of agricultural land. She ruled twice against the government regarding the extension of Highway 30 in the Montreal area. Her mandate was not renewed. In an interview with Le Devoir, Cloutier said although she was always aware her decisions could have an impact on her career at the commission, she was never- theless surprised not to have her mandate renewed given all her evaluations were positive and she had the support of the board's presidency to keep her post. "I've been with the CJAQ for three months now and I've heard horror sto- ries," said Pelletier. "A person arrives car- rying his nomination decree thinking that he's going to sit on a board of administra- tion and that he will get his attendance fee while in fact, that person will have to render judicial decisions that can affect the lives of citizens. . . . It's exceptional but the fact that there are no requirements to be appointed to the position makes this sort of thing possible." The solution advanced by the study is to extend to all the other agencies the guar- antee of independence enjoyed by judges of the other four tribunals. In an interview with Canadian Lawyer, Laval University professor Pierre Issalys, who co-authored the study, suggested the nomination sys- tem "during good conduct" (effectively for life) that applies to judges of the Tribunal administratif du Québec is a good example. The TAQ was created during the 1996 administrative law reform, explains Issalys. It is a tribunal with extensive jurisdiction but which does not cover all administra- tive areas. When it was created, it put Quebec ahead of most other jurisdictions because of the independence of its judges, says Issalys. Quebec has now fallen behind other provinces since several of them have enacted umbrella legislation laying down general nomination principles for most, if not all, tribunals. — PAsCAL eLIe pascalelie636@gmail.com Our delegated task team: Aaron Z. Makovka, Jean-Maxim Lebrun, Joël Brassard, Marie-Claude Jarry, Pascal Rochefort, Brian Howard, Christian Paré, Nina V. Fernandez, Mathieu Renaud and Marc-Alexandre Girard. QUEBEC LEGAL PARTNER Untitled-6 1 14-02-06 1:51 PM

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