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Government bodies
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Government bodies under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Justice
• Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse
• Commission des services juridiques
• Conseil de la justice administrative
• Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales
• Fonds d'aide aux recours collectifs
• Office de la protection du consommateur
• Office des professions du Québec
• Société québécoise d'information juridique
• Tribunal administratif du Québec
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Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse
President
Gaétan Cousineau
Mandate
The mission of the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse is to ensure that the principles set forth in the Charter of human rights and freedoms  are upheld.
The Commission is responsible for the administration of Part III of the Charter and of the Act respecting equal access to employment in public bodies as regards affirmative action programs.
The mission of the Commission is also to ensure that the interests of children are protected and that their rights recognized by the Youth Protection Act and the Youth Criminal Justice Act are respected.
The Commission was established by the Charter of human rights and freedoms. The name and responsibilities of the Commission result from the merging in 1995 of the previous mandates of the Commission des droits de la personne and the Commission de protection des droits de la jeunesse.
Services
The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse provides the following services:
- human rights investigations;
- youth protection investigations;
- information on human rights and the rights of children and young people;
- education on human rights and the rights of children and young people;
- assistance in the implementation of affirmative action programs.
Location of services
The services of the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse are provided by the regional offices  of the Commission.
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Commission des services juridiques
President
Denis Roy
Mandate
The Commission des services juridiques is a legal aid commission established under the Legal Aid Act. Its mandate is to ensure that legal aid is provided to economically underprivileged persons.
The Commission is responsible for setting up community legal centres to provide legal aid, and for overseeing their funding. The Commission also accredits and finances local legal aid clinics, which are established on the recommendation of a community legal centre.
In addition to establishing and maintaining the network of community legal centres, the Commission oversees their operations. It investigates any community legal centre that shows operating losses or poor management practices, provides inadequate services, or whose activities fail to comply with the Legal Aid Act or to the regulations established under it.
Another important function of the Commission, besides control and supervision, is to educate and inform, with a focus on the people using its services. It also conducts studies and surveys to improve the quality of its services.
Services
- Provide assistance for economically underprivileged persons to allow them to obtain legal counsel from a lawyer or notary and, if necessary, exercise their rights in a court of law
- Provide information concerning legal aid
Service points
The Commission's services are provided at your local Legal Aid office  .
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Conseil de la justice administrative
President
Vacant position
Mandate
The duties of the Conseil de la justice administrative, the administrative justice council, are:
- to establish a code of ethics applicable to the members of the Tribunal administratif du Québec;
- to receive and examine any complaint lodged against a member of the Tribunal administratif du Québec, an agent of the Régie du logement or a commissioner of the Commission des lésions professionnelles, particularly for a violation of their code of ethics or the rules relating to conflicts of interest;
- to advise the president of the Tribunal administratif du Québec concerning the rules of procedure adopted by the Tribunal;
- to report to the Minister of Justice on any question submitted by the Minister to the Conseil.
Services
Receive, process and investigate complaints.
Service points
See the website  of the Conseil de la justice administrative.
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Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales
Director
Louis Dionne
Mandate
The Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, acting on behalf of the State, directs prosecutions under the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and all other federal Acts that empower the Attorney General of Québec to act as prosecutor. The Director also prosecutes all other cases to which the Code of Penal Procedure applies, and advises the police forces responsible for enforcing Québec legislation on all aspects of an investigation or criminal and penal proceedings.
Services
The Director’s mandate includes
- performing all the duties of a prosecutor;
- advising police forces on all aspects of an investigation or criminal and penal proceedings;
- performing any other duties assigned by the Attorney General or Minister of Justice.
Service points
The work of the Director is performed by eight specialized offices, dealing respectively with: Bureau de la jeunesse de Montréal, Bureau de la qualité des services professionnels, Bureau de lutte au crime organisé, Bureau de lutte aux produits de la criminalité, Bureau des affaires criminelles et jeunesse, Bureau des affaires pénales, Bureau de service-conseil and Bureau des affaires extérieures, de la sécurité et du développement.
In addition to the eight specialized offices listed above, criminal and penal prosecuting attorneys provide services at 39 different service points throughout Québec. Some prosecuting attorneys also provide itinerant services to the many different Native communities in Québec.
See the website  (in French) of the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales.
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Fonds d'aide aux recours collectifs
President
Jacques Parent
Mandate
The Fonds d'aide aux recours collectifs is an assistance fund for class action suits established under the Act respecting the class action . A class action is a procedure that allows a person to sue on behalf of all the persons having sustained the same damage. The mandate of the Fond d'aide aux recours collectifs is to help finance class action suits in first instance or on appeal, and to publish information on the filing of class action suits.
By law, any individual, non-profit corporation governed by Part III of the Companies Act, cooperative governed by the Cooperatives Act, or association of employees mentioned in the second paragraph of article 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, may, provided the stipulated conditions are fulfilled, obtain financial aid from the Fund in order to bring a civil class action suit (articles 999 and following of the Code of Civil Procedure ) on behalf of persons whose claims are sufficiently similar to justify their grouping in a single case.
When the Fund grants financial aid, it sets the terms of payment and reimbursement with the applicant and the applicant's counsel. If assistance is denied, the applicant may appeal the Fund's decision before the Tribunal administrative du Québec. Class actions are heard by the Superior Court of Québec.
For further information on the procedure for obtaining financial assistance from the Fonds d'aide aux recours collectifs, click here (In French).
See the website  of the Fonds d'aide aux recours collectifs (In French).
Services
- Funding for class action suits which meet the conditions provided for by law
- Publication of information on how to file a class action suit
Service points
Montréal
Telephone: (514) 393-2087
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Office de la protection du consommateur
President
Louis Borgeat
Mandate
Under section 292 of the Consumer Protection Act , the Office is mandated to :
- supervise the application of the Consumer Protection Act and of any other act under which it is charged with such supervision;
- receive complaints from consumers;
- educate and inform the population on matters of consumer protection;
- carry out studies respecting consumer protection and where required, make recommendations to the Minister;
- promote and subsidize the establishment and development of consumer protection services or bodies and to cooperate with such services and bodies;
- make merchants, manufacturers and advertisers aware of consumer needs and demands;
- promote the interests of consumers before those governmental bodies whose activities affect consumers;
- evaluate goods and services offered to consumers;
- cooperate with the various governmental departments and bodies of Québec in matters of consumer protection and to coordinate the work done by such departments and bodies for such purpose;
- create, by regulation, consumer protection regional advisory councils for the regions designated by it, to determine their composition, functions, duties and powers, and their administrative modes and procedures, and to provide emoluments to their members.
As part of its mandate, the Office is responsible for overseeing the administration of four statutes:
Services
Services offered by the Office de la protection du consommateur include:
- general information for consumers;
- receipt and processing of complaints from consumers;
- information to merchants and improvement of their awareness with regard to their legal obligations;
- issuance of certain permits;
- information on complaints against a merchant (Merchant's profile).
Location of services
The services of the Office de la protection du consommateur are provided by the regional offices  (in French) of the Office.
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Office des professions du Québec
President
Jean Paul Dutrisac
Mandate
The Office des professions du Québec, the professions office, was established under the Professional Code, which, in section 12, determines the chief elements of its mandate.
The Office must see that each professional order ensures the protection of the public. When deemed necessary, it proposes the establishment of new orders or the amalgamation or dissolution of existing orders, as well as amendments to the laws that regulate them; it promotes dialogue between orders whose members carry out related activities; it suggests ways to ensure the best possible training for professionals; and it formulates recommendations concerning the by-laws of professional orders.
The Office oversees a network of 45 professional orders made up of over 320,000 members, governed by one general Act, the Professional Code, 25 special Acts to establish and regulate the professional orders with an exclusive right to practice, and over 600 regulations.
The system is largely decentralized. Each profession is governed by a professional order, directed by a Bureau, whose members are elected by the members of the order.
Services
- Reception and processing of applications submitted to the Office
- Information on the recourses available to citizens concerning the conduct of the 45 professional orders and their 320,000 members
- Notices, reports and viewpoints on issues within its jurisdiction
Service points
See the website  of the Office des professions du Québec.
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Société québécoise d'information juridique
President
Guy Mercier
Mandate
Founded in 1976, the Société québécoise d'information juridique is a legal information society that promotes the research, processing and development of legal documentation in order to improve its quality and accessibility.
Each year, the Société distributes and markets a wide variety of products, in printed or electronic form (on-line databases and CD-ROMs), for the legal community, the business world and citizens interested in legal documentation. SOQUIJ also makes the decisions  of Québec courts and organizations and various other types of legal information available to the general public.
Services
Azimut (online legal documentation)
- Databases of decisions rendered by courts of law, specialized courts and Québec organizations (summaries and full text);
- Dockets and minute books;
- Training;
- Support for users.
La Dépêche (In French)
A daily newsletter for legal professionals in Québec, La Dépêche reports on developments in case law and provides articles on doctrine and language and an index of doctrinal documents found on the Internet.
Printed publications (In French)
Case reports, information bulletins, indexes and doctrinal documents are available individually or by subscription. The full texts of judgments and decisions are also available.
Decisions rendered by Québec courts and organizations
This website provides access to decisions rendered by Québec courts and organizations, specifically the Court of Appeal, the Superior Court, the Court of Québec, the labour tribunal, the professions tribunal and the industrial injury commission.
Service points
The service points are listed on the website (In French) of the Société québécoise d'information juridique.
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Tribunal administratif du Québec
President
Hélène de Kovachich
Mandate
The Tribunal administratif du Québec was established under the Act respecting administrative justice. It has jurisdiction to make determinations in respect of proceedings brought against administrative decisions rendered by public authorities such as government departments, boards, commissions, municipalities, health care establishments, etc.
Services
The Tribunal consists of four divisions.
The social affairs division is chiefly responsible for proceedings in such matters as income security, welfare and family allowances, the protection of patients with mental illnesses, health and social services, immigration, pension plans and certain compensation plans.
The immovable property division hears cases involving municipal property evaluations, rental value, and compensation following expropriation.
The territory and environment division hears proceedings relating to the preservation of agricultural land and environmental protection.
Last, the economic affairs division rules on proceedings relating to permits and authorizations under various economic, industrial, professional or commercial Acts.
Service points
See the website  of the Tribunal administratif du Québec.
Determinations (with reasons) rendered by the Tribunal administratif du Québec since April 1, 1998 (In French)
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Latest update: June 22, 2011
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