Prologue: Le statut du français au sein de l’appareil judiciaire ontarien : une révolution tranquille inachevée (Republication: Peter B. Annis, Bilingualism and the Law Society of Upper Canada)

53 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2016 Last revised: 19 Aug 2022

See all articles by Mathieu Demilly

Mathieu Demilly

Power Law

Darius Bossé

McGill University, Faculty of Law, Students

Peter Annis

Independent

Date Written: July 18, 2013

Abstract

French Abstract: L’appareil judiciaire ontarien a bien changé ces dernières années. Durant la seconde moitié des années 70, après avoir constaté un grave problème d’accès à la justice pour ses citoyens francophones, le gouvernement ontarien a pris l’initiative de rendre la justice en français. Presque quarante ans après la réforme, il est temps de tirer un bilan et de mesurer le chemin qu’il reste à parcourir, un objectif que semble s’être donné la Section de common law de la Faculté de droit de l’Université d’Ottawa en organisant le Colloque sur le statut du français dans la réglementation de la profession juridique, qui avait lieu à l’Université d’Ottawa le 25 mai 2012, ainsi que la Revue de droit d’Ottawa qui publie un numéro spécial sur la question. Pour cela, nous avons cru qu’il serait intéressant de se replonger dans le passé. En 1983, l’honorable Peter Annis signait un article dans lequel il proposait une réfl exion sur les effets engendrés par les réformes de l’époque en matière d’accès à la justice en français sur la profession juridique. Il se questionnait aussi sur le rôle qu’allait devoir jouer le Barreau du Haut-Canada face à ces changements. Il est particulièrement fascinant de constater que cet article demeure pertinent trente ans après sa parution. Celui-ci nous permet de constater comment la réforme et ses effets se sont déroulés – par exemple, certaines des prédictions de l’auteur se sont réalisées alors que d’autres sont restées lettre morte. Plus important encore, l’article de l’honorable Peter Annis met la question du statut du français en Ontario ainsi que sa place dans la profession juridique en perspective, offrant ainsi aux intéressés les outils nécessaires pour poursuivre les prochaines étapes d’une révolution qui reste encore inachevée. C’est pourquoi nous avons décidé de reproduire intégralement l’article de l’honorable Peter Annis dans les pages qui suivent, d’autant plus que celui-ci est difficile à trouver et était encore jusqu’à aujourd’hui inaccessible sur Internet.

English Abstract: It is no surprise to learn that language developments occurring in the legal field are leading the way in the historic process of giving Ontario a bilingual face. In the course of the last five years the traditional unilingualism of the Province's legal system has given away to a situation where French enjoys a limited, but significant status as one of the official languages of justice. At first, these developments seemed to have only a tangential effect on the Law Society. However, with many of the modifications now beginning to take effect, their veritable impact is coming home to the Law Society. The Law Society's monopoly over the Bar admission programme together with its influence and prestige in all matters concerning law in the Province, means that the Law Society's response to bilingualism may have a significant effect on the long-term success of the Province's initiatives in this field. Therefore, the timing is propitious to consider the ramifications that the French language issue will have on the Law Society and its programmes.

In dealing with this issue a number of questions arise. For example, what are the responsibilities of the Law Society in matters of language in the legal system? What posture should it adopt in face of the policy initiatives being pursued by the present Administration? More to the point, what exactly are these initiatives and how do they fit into the overall language programme of the Province? This paper endeavours to address these questions in the course of carrying out a review of what may be described as the "bilingualism" question and its foreseeable impact on the Law Society.

The paper is divided into three parts. The first describes the nature of the initiatives taken to introduce French into the legal system. In the second part, an attempt will be made to sketch out in fairly broad strokes some of the policy considerations underlying the French language issue in Ontario and its effect on relations with the Province of Quebec. Here the object will be to gain perspective on the motives behind the present Administration's programme to promote the use of French in the system of justice. In the third part, attention will turn to the role of the Law Society in these issues. It will be argued that the responsibility for legal training of new entrants to the Bar, when viewed in the context of recent governmental initiatives intended to make French language legal services available in the Province, entails a co-extensive duty on the part of the Law Society to assure that Bar admission instruction is offered in the French language. Limitations to the implementation of bilingualism will then be considered, dealing first with such questions as the cost of bilingualism, its effect on English programmes, and the reservations, or "backlash", some lawyers may exhibit towards these programmes, which serve as reasons to vary or limit the scope of French programmes in the Law Society.

Of special interest in the paper is the criticism expressed by some lawyers that a French Bar admission programme may produce unilingual French-speaking lawyers. As shall be seen, this paper argues against the legitimacy of this objection, suggesting that it is harmful to the Law Society's best interests and contrary to the reality of the language setting in Ontario today. The paper will conclude with an examination of models that might be proposed for a French Bar admission programme, where the language issue is of greatest immediate concern. It will be suggested that an "optional" programme be established, akin to that used at the Ottawa University with a time-table for implementation of three to five years.

Note: Downloadable document (prologue) is in French.

Suggested Citation

Demilly, Mathieu and Bossé, Darius and Annis, Peter, Prologue: Le statut du français au sein de l’appareil judiciaire ontarien : une révolution tranquille inachevée (Republication: Peter B. Annis, Bilingualism and the Law Society of Upper Canada) (July 18, 2013). Ottawa Law Review, Vol. 44, No. 1, 2012-2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2811423

Darius Bossé

McGill University, Faculty of Law, Students ( email )

Montréal, Quebec
Canada

Peter Annis

Independent ( email )

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