By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
In what lawyer Robert Kugler described as a “significant, important judgment in terms of the respect of the rule of law,” the Quebec Superior Court has ordered the provincial government to pay $164 million in damages to roughly 24,000 individuals who were illegally detained between 2015 and 2020. The amount, including interest, is expected to climb to around $240 million, one of the largest such awards in Quebec history.
The judgment, issued last Wednesday, stems from a class action launched by the law firm Kugler Kandestin on behalf of individuals who were held for more than 24 hours before seeing a judge—an explicit violation of both Canadian and Quebec Charter rights.
The Canadian Criminal Code is clear: when a person is arrested and police determine they cannot be released, they must be brought before a court “as soon as possible and in all cases within 24 hours.” But from 2015 to 2020, Quebec failed to provide court appearances on Sundays and statutory holidays.
The result? Thousands of people—many of them marginalized and vulnerable—were left to languish in police holding cells for up to 48 hours or more. According to Kugler, those cells are ill-equipped for long-term detention, with harsh lighting, no showers, no television, and limited access to sleeping accommodations.
“Even if the judge ends up deciding a person needs to be detained further, they’re transferred to a proper detention facility with better conditions,” Kugler explained in an interview. “And if the judge determines they should be released, they get a court date and can go free. Either way, the delay harms them.”
Kugler described the 24-hour rule as “the cornerstone of criminal procedure,” adding that it protects two fundamental rights: the right to liberty and the presumption of innocence. The absence of appearances on Sundays and holidays, he said, was a knowing violation of these rights by the Quebec government.
“Decisions from all levels of court, going back decades, have emphasized the importance of this rule,” Kugler said. “But the Quebec government chose to ignore that.”
The class action, initially authorized several years ago, was also filed against the municipalities of Montreal and Quebec City. Those two cities chose to settle out of court, and their settlements were approved by the court. But the province opted to fight the case in a month-long trial held earlier this year.
