MONTREAL — Quebec’s Court of Appeal has determined that a provincial court judge exceeded his authority when he ruled that a section of the province’s language law is unconstitutional. The ruling came in response to actions taken by Judge Denis Galiatsatos in May 2024 during a case involving a woman charged with criminal negligence in the death of a cyclist. The woman requested a trial conducted in English.

Judge Galiatsatos raised concerns about a provision in Quebec’s language law, which was set to take effect just days before the trial. This law mandates that court decisions be translated into French “immediately and without delay.” The judge argued that this requirement would lead to systematic delays in delivering English verdicts. In a procedural ruling, he declared the translation requirement inoperable.

The Court of Appeal overturned Galiatsatos's ruling in late May. In a unanimous decision dated August 8, a panel of three justices stated that the judge's actions in initiating the constitutional debate were beyond his jurisdiction. The court noted, “Perhaps there was room here for a proper constitutional debate on the applicability of the (law) in criminal matters. One can legitimately ask this. But initiating, conducting and resolving this debate, unilaterally and in anticipation, as the judge attempted to do here, went far beyond the limits of his jurisdiction.”

Following Galiatsatos's initial ruling, Quebec’s attorney general sought a judicial review in Superior Court, which was dismissed due to a lack of demonstrated harm to the public interest. The attorney general then appealed to the Court of Appeal, which criticized the procedural approach taken by Galiatsatos. The court stated, “the procedure followed here left too much to be desired” and emphasized that a judge cannot unilaterally decide such matters based on “pure hypotheses” and a “deficient procedural framework.”

The Court of Appeal indicated that any future challenges to the constitutionality of the language law must be conducted properly. Droits collectifs Québec, a civil liberties group focused on French language rights, welcomed the ruling. The organization has been advocating for the translation of unilingual English rulings issued before 1970, prior to the implementation of the Official Languages Act.

The group criticized Galiatsatos's actions, stating they represented an “activist judicial refusal” to respect the French language charter and the principles of judicial impartiality and independence.

Quebec’s French Language Minister, Jean-François Roberge, expressed support for the Court of Appeal's decision, stating, “Whenever the charter is attacked or violated, we will defend it. The future of the French language and our nation depend on it.”