MONTREAL -- A Superior Court judge ruled against the lawyer who argued that Quebec physical-distancing laws since the beginning of the COVID-19 are a form of illegal detention.
Media sources reported that Justice Louis-Paul Cullen ruled Friday that Mont-St-Hilaire lawyer Jean-Felix Racicot’s argument that physical distancing measures were equal to illegal detentions was not credible.
Racicot argued that the measures put in place during the crisis violated constitutional rights, and that Francois Legault’s government’s policies were put in place without proper democratic debate.
He argued that Legault “fabricated the crisis to change society.”
Racicot argued all measures put in place from March to May to curb the spread of the cornavirus such as closing schools, prohibiting gatherings and shutting down sections of the economy be considered null-and-void. His 33-page motion details Legault’s decisions since March 13, as the government attempted to halt COVID-19’s progress.
Cullen ruled against Racicot’s habeas corpus argument – where a state must justify detaining a citizen.
He will hear Racicot’s arguments about whether Quebec’s other laws should undergo a judicial review at a future date.
