Case information

Civil Procedure — Access to documents — Amendment to proceedings — Is Public Curator excused from its legal duty to allow access to documents to heirs of a deceased incapable ward because Applicant had been declared a vexatious litigant although authorization had been granted by the Chief Justice? — Is the Public Curator a public body or official whose decisions and acts are subject to motions for judicial review and are the contents of a ward’s file public documents subject to motions for judicial review?

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The applicants, Ms. Hanna Engel and Mr. Ura Greenbaum, are the children of the late Ms. Fanny Kogan who passed away in 1999. From 1989 until her passing, the respondent, the Public Curator of Quebec was appointed by the Superior Court of Quebec as the curator for Ms. Kogan. In 1999, the court appointed a liquidator for Ms. Kogan’s estate because she died ab intestate. In 2002, Mr. Greenbaum was declared a vexatious litigant with respect to proceedings taken against the liquidator. In 2005, the court rendered a judgment which settled, for all practical purposes, the estate of the deceased and discharged the liquidator. In addition, Ms. Engel was appointed liquidator for any remaining questions. In 2008, Ms. Engel filed an action for damages against the liquidator of her mother’s estate and the Public Curator of Quebec, alleging poor administration of her mother’s affairs and estate. In 2011, Ms. Engel’s action for damages was quashed and she was declared a vexatious litigant. In May 2018, Ms. Engel was authorized by the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec to file a motion for access to documents, as the liquidator of her mother’s estate, in order to obtain unrestricted access to all information gathered and retained by the Public Curator are related to her mother. Back in 2007, Ms. Engel had obtained eight boxes of documents from the Public Curator but some documents were redacted and therefore the information was unavailable. In October 2018, Ms. Engel filed an amendment to her motion in which she sought to change her capacity from the liquidator of her mother’s estate to that of an heir. Further, this amendment impleaded Mr. Greenbaum as an intervener (mis en-cause) in his capacity as heir to his mother’s succession. In response, the Public Curator of Quebec filed a motion in opposition to the amendment as well as an application to dismiss the motion for access to documents. The Superior Court of Quebec granted both the opposition to amend the motion for access to documents and the motion to dismiss the motion for access to documents. The Court of Appeal dismissed the application for leave to appeal.