Montréal

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Master of the Rolls, Superior Court

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Motions requiring a hearing of two hours or more are referred by the special clerk to the master of the rolls to allow a date to be set.

If all parties consent, Motions requiring a hearing of less than two hours may be referred by the special clerk to the master of the rolls to allow a date to be set.

If consent cannot be obtained from the parties, the Motions are referred to courtroom 2.08 to be heard if progress of the roll so allows or postponed to a later date.

Form: Joint Declaration to Fix a Hearing of More than Two Hours

* Always check the Superior Court roll to validate the date of a hearing.

Motions requiring a hearing of two hours or more are referred by the special clerk to the master of the rolls to allow a date to be set.

If all parties consent, Motions requiring a hearing of less than two hours may be referred by the special clerk to the master of the rolls to allow a date to be set.

If consent cannot be obtained from the parties, the Motions are referred to courtroom 2.01 to be heard if progress of the roll so allows or postponed to a later date.

Form: Joint Declaration to Fix a Hearing of More than Two Hours

* Always check the Superior Court roll to validate the date of a hearing.

See the Directives de la Cour supérieure pour le District de Montréal (English version coming soon) and the Commercial notice of November 2, 2020 - Notice concerning operations in courtrooms 16.10 and 16.04 for the General Directive of the Commercial Division.

Appeals in statutory and criminal matters

The Criminal and Penal Practice Division sits on fixed dates, determined each year by the coordinating judge for the Criminal Division.

Once an appeal has been filed and found to be in conformity with the Rules of Practice of the Court in Criminal and Penal Matters, the clerk places the case on the roll of the practice chamber ( courtroom 4.11) for the first Friday following the filling of the notice of appeal.

Once the file is complete (in other words, once the stenographic notes have been completed and a time has been set for submitting the notes and the list of case law and doctrine), the judge fixes a date for the hearing in the presence of the attorneys.

When filing a notice of appeal, you must take the necessary steps to have a transcript made of the evidence given in first instance. If, in exceptional circumstances, you wish to be exempted from submitting filing notes, you must submit an application for that purpose to the judge.

As soon as the notes have been filed, the attorneys must comply with sections 11 and 12 of the Rules of Practice of the Québec Superior Court in Penal Matters or section 34 of the Rules of Practice of the Superior Court of the Province of Québec. The appellant must, within thirty days, file a written submission setting out the arguments on which the appellant’s case will rely, together with any supporting case law or jurisprudence. The respondent party then has thirty days to do the same.

Once the time limits have expired, the case is placed on the roll for a hearing.

Extraordinary remedy, review of an order and application for extradition

Motions must be filed at the clerk’s office of the Superior Court, and a copy must be forwarded to the office of the coordinating judge so that a date can be fixed for a hearing.

For writs of certiorari, mandamus, prohibition and quo warranto, the applicant must take the necessary steps to have a transcript made of the evidence supporting the recourse sought.

For a writ of habeas corpus, the motion must be filed in the clerk’s office, and the coordinating judge must be informed of the proceeding. In all cases, a hearing date will be fixed without delay to hear the first stage.

Applications for the review, by a judge of the Superior Court, of an order of detention, order of release or application for release (s. 522 C.C.) must be submitted at the clerk’s office of the Superior Court, and must comply with the provisions of the rules of practice of the Court (ss. 20 and 21 ).

When an application for extradition is contested, the coordinating judge must be informed and the parties must indicate the estimated duration of the proceedings so that a date can be set for the hearing.

As soon as an application for authorization to institute a class action is filed at the Clerk’s Office, the coordinating judge for class actions must be notified of the application.

For the general directives of the Class Actions Chamber, see Title IV (Directives propres aux affaires de la chambre des actions collectives) of the Directives de la Cour supérieure pour le District de Montréal (English version coming soon).

Register of class actions

1) Calling of the general roll

Following the issue of an Attestation that a File is Complete, cases in which the Joint Declaration that a File is Complete provides for a hearing of less than ten days are scheduled for a calling of the general roll presided by the special clerk.

2) Calling of the special roll

Following the issue of an Attestation that a File is Complete, cases in which the Joint Declaration that a File is Complete provides for a hearing of ten days or more are scheduled for a calling of the general roll presided by the associate chief justice or by the coordinating judge for the Civil and Family Practice Divisions for the District of Montréal.

1) Judge acting in chambers

A judge acting in chambers is available every business day in courtroom 2.13.

To be heard in that courtroom, attorneys must enter their name in a register kept by the usher at the entrance to the courtroom and present the original of the proceeding, stamped by the office of the clerk, for presentation to the judge.

2) Duty judge

In an emergency, a duty judge is available at all time outside normal court business hours.

The duty judge can be reached by contacting the courthouse security service 514-393-2819 which will, in turn, contact the duty judge who will then communicate directly with the person making the request.

1) Application for postponement on the day of the hearing

Every application made on the day of the hearing for the postponement of a case, whether a practice case or a case proceeding on its merits, is decided by the coordinating judge for the roll on the merits or the coordinating judge for the roll in practice division on which the case was placed.

2) Application for postponement contested prior to the day of the hearing

Subject to the following, every application for postponement, other than an application referred to in paragraph 1), must be made by motion and is decided by the judge sitting in civil case management, for files scheduled to proceed on the merits or in the Civil and Administrative Practice Division, or by the judge sitting in family matters for files scheduled to proceed in the Family Practice Division.

3) Application for postponement not contested prior to the day of the hearing

Every application for postponement that is not contested prior to the day of the hearing must be made in writing and is decided by the judge responsible for the roll on which the case is placed, who can dispose of it in an appropriate matter in the circumstances.

Every Motion that may be presented under Article 48 C.C.P. is presented to the chief justice or the judge designated for that purpose by the chief justice. To present a Motion, the office of the chief justice (phone: 514-393-2144) must be contacted and, depending on the circumstances, a date will be determined along with the way in which the Motion will be presented and heard.

1) Special case management

Every application for special case management must first be presented in courtroom 2.16 to be forwarded to a judge who will dispose of the application.

A judge who considers that the application may be presented to the chief justice will ask the parties to contact the office of the chief justice to allow a date to be set for a hearing.

2) Application for a hearing by preference

Every application for a hearing by preference is presented to the chief justice or a judge designated by the chief judge. On being contacted, the Master of the Rolls will indicate the dates available for such an application. The original and the court copy of the application must then be presented to the office of the court clerk with one of the dates mentioned by the master of the rolls as the presentation date.

An application for a pre-trial conference in a case ready to be heard may only be made after the case has been placed on a provisional role and when ordered by a judge or by the special clerk, ex officio or at the request of the parties.

The use of technological assistance in the Montréal courthouse is possible in the following situations:

Telephone conference call

For the presentation of an uncontested Motion to Extend a Time Limit of 180 days, a Case Management Notice, a Motion to Examine a Third Party by Consent or a Motion for a Ruling on Foreseeable Objections, a telephone conference call is accepted on the following conditions:

• The parties must file the motion and amended time limit at least two (2) clear days before the date of the hearing;
• The attorney who presents the motion must call 514-393-2322 to obtain a date and time for the hearing and a conference identification number;
• The service is available once per week, in the afternoon, by appointment only;
• The detailed procedure is set out in the Notice to Members of the Bar dated October 15, 2007 (Superior Court – District of Montréal).

Videolink

To hear witnesses during an examination on the merits, a videoconference may be used based on the following procedure:

• The parties must have obtained prior authorization from the coordinating judge or the judge designated to hear the case (if known);
• At least 5 days before the date of the hearing, the parties or their attorneys must contact the audiovisual and electronic services division (Service des ressources audiovisuelles et électroniques or SRAVE) at 514-864-7283 to make the necessary technical arrangements.

Please note that unless a videoconference is specifically required, the technology cannot be used if a telephone conference call would otherwise meet all the requirements of the hearing (for example: to hear a witness at a hearing presided at by a judge).