Case information

Constitutional law — Charter of Rights — Language rights — Courts — Administrative tribunals – Whether a court hearing conducted partially or wholly in French in which a court or human rights tribunal in Quebec does not provide interpreter services to an English-speaking litigant is constitutional — Whether a litigant in Quebec is entitled to the same range of court interpreter services made available to francophones and other language minorities outside of the province of Quebec

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The applicant, Mr. Carby-Samuels, instituted a proceeding before the Human Rights Tribunal against the respondents Ville de Gatineau and police officers employed by the municipality. In that context, an interlocutory decision was rendered, which he believed was prejudicial to his fundamental rights. The applicant filed an application for leave to appeal the interlocutory decision before the Superior Court. The respondents filed a motion asking the Superior Court to decline jurisdiction and dismiss the application for leave to appeal. In the context of the hearing of that motion, the applicant raised a preliminary objection stating that he has the right to have the respondents’ proceedings translated into English and have a free translator provided for him to be able to understand opposing counsel’s oral arguments.

The Superior Court dismissed the applicant’s objection, concluding that it had no discretion to order the Minister of Justice to provide and pay for translation of the respondents’ arguments and written proceedings for the applicant’s benefit in a civil matter. The Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal.