Bar of Lower Canada
| Formation | May 30, 1849 |
|---|---|
| Type | Law society |
| Legal status | Active |
| Purpose |
Oversee professional legal practice |
| Headquarters | Maison du Barreau Montreal, Quebec |
|
Region served
|
Quebec |
|
Membership
|
22,500 |
|
Official language
|
English French |
|
President
|
Claudia Prémont |
| Website |
Oversee professional legal practice
Support member practitioners
Foster collegial relationships within the membership
The Bar of Quebec (officially the Barreau du Québec in French) is the provincial law society in Quebec, Canada. It was founded May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Canada (Barreau du Bas-Canada).
The beginnings of the Quebec Bar go back to 1693 when, as a Royal Province of the French colonial empire, Canadien lawyers first tried to obtain official recognition and were refused by Governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac, who upheld the 1678 edict by the Sovereign Council denying recognition of the legal profession in New France.
French Canadian lawyers would not be recognized for nearly a century, by which time they had become British colonial subjects. In 1765, Governor James Murray of the new British Province of Quebec authorized the creation of the "Community of Lawyers" (Communauté des avocats), which granted commissions to its members allowing them to practise law as lawyers, notaries and land surveyors. The precursor to the present-day Bar of Quebec, the Community of Lawyers, adopted the first-ever code of ethics and conduct.
The Bar of Quebec became an independent corporation in 1849 through the Act to incorporate the Bar of Lower Canada (11-12 Vict. [1849], c.46.) and was granted sole responsibility for admission to the study and practice of law. The Act authorizing the incorporation of the Bar of Quebec was influential elsewhere and inspired the formation of similar corporations, such as the State Bar of California.
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