MONTREAL — Quebec is a distinct society in many respects, including in matters of justice. It has a Civil Code, derived from French law, which has defined its legal distinctiveness from the rest of Canada for 160 years. On 1 August 1866, the “Civil Code of Lower Canada” came into force. This document served, in a sense, to bring order to the rules and rights derived from different sources, languages and eras, explains Michel Morin, a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal. “The aim was to create a work that would simplify and rationalise the law, because we were starting to lose our shirts,” Morin said in an interview. Prior to this codification, the law in the province was “rather fragmented,” comprising, amongst other things, the Coutume de Paris and elements of Roman law, as Sylvio Normand, professor emeritus at the Faculty of Law of Laval University, also points out. Some 125 years later, the “Civil Code of Québec” was adopted, replacing that of Lower Canada. This new text contained “on the whole a great many innovations,” although certain amendments had been made from the 1960s onwards, explains Morin. “It was really a document designed for the 1990s and beyond. People were starting to talk about information technology, but very tentatively, of course, because it wasn’t yet as developed as it is today,” says Morin. Significant sections relating to the law of persons have been amended, points out Mr Normand. ‘Family law is set to be quite significantly affected by a substantial revision of what the law used to be,’ he explains. “Quebec was probably a “pioneer” in revising its Civil Code to bring it into line with contemporary realities in the early 1990s," notes Morin. “The Netherlands had already begun, and Quebec was one of the first jurisdictions to make this effort by rewriting the code from scratch,” he states. This major overhaul of the Quebec code served as a model for other states wishing to undertake a similar process with their own codes, according to Normand. The “Civil Code of Quebec” has also been translated, notably into Spanish and Russian, he notes. Civil law versus common law The legal system in Quebec differs from the rest of the country in that it is governed by two systems: civil law and common law. The former applies primarily to relations between individuals, such as contracts, family law, property law and civil liability. The latter, of English origin, covers criminal, administrative and constitutional law, as well as certain federal matters. Civil law is characterised by the existence of a code containing the fundamental rules to which the public has easy access, explain the two experts. “Whereas in common law, there are many rules that must be sought out in court rulings, which are obviously much more scattered and less concise,” notes Morin. In his view, the existence of a Civil Code has influenced the way Quebec lawyers reason, even amongst those practising common law. “There is a way of drafting and conceptualising not only the Code, but also the statutes and, to a certain extent, the reasoning of judges, which can be described as civil law-based.” “Some legal professionals in the common law provinces say: “Even when you’re dealing with public law, constitutional law, criminal law or administrative law, you tend to reason in a slightly more logical and Cartesian manner—perhaps a little too much so compared to how we common law lawyers would approach it,” reports Morin. This difference does not mean that the outcomes in common law “are ultimately bad,” he points out, but it reflects a distinct legal culture. Normand notes that the Supreme Court of Canada has occasionally cited the Civil Code of Québec in a case falling within the jurisdiction of a common law province, not to apply its provisions, but merely to draw parallels. Keeping pace with societal change Morin points out that the enduring nature of civil law in Quebec stems from Quebecers’ attachment to this legal system, amongst both Francophones and Anglophones. “There has truly been an alliance between certain Anglophones and Francophones to preserve the civil law of French origin, whether at the time of the Quebec Act or the adoption of the Civil Code of 1866. Even in 1991, many legal scholars from McGill University’s Faculty of Law contributed to the preparatory work on the Civil Code,” he explains. Morin emphasises that the Quebec Civil Code has managed to retain its French characteristics and resist “pressure to bring these rules more into line with those of the common law.” In his view, the main challenge facing the “Quebec Civil Code” is to amend it regularly to incorporate issues which, although they are not always brought before the courts, remain important to society. Normand agrees. “I think we must always be on the lookout to ensure that any necessary amendments can be made. This has been done frequently since the new Code came into force,” he states. Generally speaking, there is a good fit between society and the Code as they stand today, suggests Normand. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 9, 2026.
