Access to Justice in Both Official Languages: English and French Before Federal Courts

Final Report

Conference – April 2003

The Canadian Centre for Management Development

in Partnership with the Department of Justice of Canada

and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

C2004-980089-2E

The right to use French and English before Canada’s tribunals is one of the most important symbols of Canadians’ desire to live together with dignity and respect. However, implementing this fundamental right is a challenge for the general public, lawyers and all staff members at federal tribunals. The Internet as a communications tool and the changing interpretations of linguistic obligations shape the environments of tribunals and the way they function.

The Department of Justice organized a conference for key stakeholders to get together and discuss these challenges and, above all, to share their best practices. This initiative should be applauded. Nonetheless, implementing language rights is a collective responsibility that we all share.

This conference brought together representatives from federal tribunals and from associations of French-speaking lawyers. It was a unique learning and knowledge-sharing venue, in which participants pooled the effective practices that some tribunals have already implemented to concretely improve access to justice in both official languages.

I would also like to single out an initiative of the Group of Chairs of Federal Courts, which will create a working group that will follow up on the analyses and reflections that resulted from the conference. This will surely open up new possibilities for providing service in both official languages in federal tribunals.

This document is the result of the participants’ collective efforts to improve access to justice in both official languages. I am pleased that I was a part of this successful event and hope it will lead to other forums where federal tribunals will be able to continue to share ideas in order to fully achieve their mission of respecting the language rights of Canadians who appear before the courts.

Dyane Adam
Commissioner of Official Languages

The participation of many individuals greatly facilitated the organization of this event and the presentation of the historical, legislative and contextual perspectives on the issues relating to access to justice in both official languages.

This event and its ensuing results were made possible in large part because of the successful cooperation between three institutions that put their knowledge to good use while ensuring that they worked together to create a genuine discussion forum. The Canadian Centre for Management Development joins the Department of Justice and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in expressing sincere gratitude to Richard Rochefort, then Director General of Business Learning and Development Events, Canadian Centre for Management Development, Marie-Claude Gervais, Legal Counsel, Official Languages Law Group, Justice Canada, and Johane Tremblay, General Counsel, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

Special recognition is also given to Kate Hart, Client Relations Officer, Canadian Centre for Management Development, to Liliane Marcil, Assistant, Official Languages Law Group, Department of Justice, and to Chadia Brahim, Paralegal, Official Languages Law Group, Department of Justice. Their commitment to organizing this event contributed significantly to its success.