Following our investigation, a judge was strongly accused by the judiciary

A former Longueuil municipal court judge has been censured by the Conseil de la magistrature du Québec for deliberately overcharging and acquitting a friend of a traffic violation in “42 seconds.”

• Read more: One judge reportedly charged 160 times more

• Read more: A little slap on the wrist for cleaning up a friend

Former Justice Jean Herbert, who retired in early 2019, would have been ousted if she had still been in office, a council hearing says.

The panel’s decision, delivered recently, uses harsh words to qualify the alleged acts.

Therefore, the Magistrate has:

• Exhibits “inexcusable” behavior and overbills his work hours by performing “involuntary and repetitive actions”;
• He did that[apparentent] committing fraud by asking a lawyer to prolong the trial of a case without reason;
• He “perverted” the impartiality and objectivity of his character by releasing a friend to avoid punishment.

No action

However, these findings remain overlooked.

“In context, the team [d’enquête] The seriousness of the measures taken must be condemned, but Mr. After Herbert’s retirement, he decides to propose […] To close these files”, we write at the end.

It should be noted that the investigation by the Conseil de la Magistrature stems from the 2019 revelations by our Bureau of Investigation into Judge Herbert’s actions.

Then Justice Minister Sonia Lebel took up the case to bring one of the three complaints against the former magistrate.

UPAC

The Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) was also interested in the magistrate’s case, as it raided the Longueuil Municipal Court in June 2019 to obtain documents related to overtime payments.

Reached on Monday, UPAC spokesman Mathieu Galarneau declined to specify where the investigation is.

Remember that Judge Herbert is not the only magistrate to be the target of a disciplinary hearing for alleged infractions.

Outrageous comments

Quebec’s Superior Court judge Gérard Ducre could lose his post after repeatedly making outrageous comments and repeatedly delaying his rulings in cases he presided over.

A final decision by the Canadian judiciary should soon confirm his dismissal.

Denis Descoteaux, a judge at the Quebec Court of Justice in Val-d’Or, has been the subject of two reprimands from the Quebec Judicial Council and may soon receive two more because of his conduct in court.

3 major failures

► Judge Herbert asks a lawyer to voluntarily delay the progress of a case so he can charge more by the hour.
“Mr Herbert’s conduct was dishonest […] “He used his status as a judge to attack the prosecutor’s lawyer and make a false request for suspension,” the Conseil de la Magistrature’s investigative panel wrote in its decision.

► He overbilled his hours 160 times between 2016 and 2019, allowing him to overbill his hours by nearly $40,000.
“It is inexcusable that the session has taken voluntary and repetitive steps to exploit the billing system for municipal judges. […] Never a fair and informed member [du public] Such gestures could not be considered acceptable or reasonable”, one writes in the conclusion.

► The magistrate acquitted a friend of a 42-second ticket for forcing her to stop, and gave her legal advice before her appearance.
“It is clear that Mr. Herbert should not have heard this case because he was unable to act with impartiality and objectivity. […] Such behavior will instill suspicion among citizens and undermine public confidence in judicial institutions.