The Notarial Chair : Still Forging Ahead!

By Pierre Ciotola, Notary and Chairholder

Two years after its establishment, the Notarial Chair continues to be ever more visible within academic and legal circles. The following brief review of the work accomplished by the Notarial Chair and the activities organized by it over the last 12 months should convince you of this fact.

New Members on the University Advisory Committee

The University Advisory Committee has two new members. Professor Madeleine Cantin Cumyn of the Law Faculty of McGill University agreed to sit on the committee following the appointment of Me Nicholas Kasirer as Dean of that faculty. Professor Pierre-Claude Lafond of the Department of Law of the Université du Québec à Montréal also joined the committee, replacing Me Brigitte Lefebvre who is now a professor at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal and Director of its Notarial Law Program.

Activities, 2002-2003 Academic Year/h3>

Bursaries

The Chair granted six bursaries of $1,000 each. Three were awarded to three students with the best academic record upon their admission to the Notarial Law Program at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal. The three winners are: Nadia Brosseau, Annick Dalpé and Anne-Marie Lachapelle. Three other bursaries, recognizing academic excellence upon graduation from the Notarial Law Program of the Université de Montréal in the 2002-2003 academic year, were awarded to Marie-Rhode Bois, Jolaine Choinière and Nadia Brosseau. Six other bursaries for the same amount will be granted for the 2003-2004 academic year.

Activities Within The Universities

The Chair provides grants to the law faculties and law departments of the other Québec universities and to the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa so they can host a "notarial activity." The following is a summary of the activities hosted by these universities in cooperation with the Chair during the 2002-2003 academic year.

Université Laval: On March 27, 2003, before over one hundred participants, Mr. Berthier Beaulieu (land surveyor and professor in the Department of Geomatics of the Université Laval) and Professor François Brochu presented a joint conference entitled "La rénovation cadastrale et les nouvelles normes relatives aux certificats de localisation" (Cadastral Reform and the New Standards for Certificates of Location). The event was followed by a cocktail.

McGill University: The editorial board of the Private Law Dictionary/Dictionnaire de droit privé, in cooperation with Me Martine Lachance, notary and researcher at the Centre for Private and Comparative Law, drafted the definitions of a set of terms in the area of the law of obligations as it relates to the practice of notarial law.

University of Ottawa: In connection with the Career Month activities at the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa, a round table on the topic of the future of the notarial profession, entitled "L'Avenir du notariat", was held on January 22, 2003. Notaries Jean Lambert, Robert Williamson, Mario Desnoyers and Michèle Lafontaine presented various perspectives on the notarial profession.

Université de Sherbrooke: The activity sponsored by the Chair was held on February 6, 2003 in the Law Faculty's Moot Court. Guest lecturer Professor Lucie Laflamme spoke on the topic of recent developments in the law of persons in a speech entitled "Développements récents en droit des personnes." The event was attended by students as well as by some fifty local notaries.

Université du Québec à Montréal: On February 17 and 20, 2003, Me Michel Beauchamp, a Montreal notary, spoke on the topic of notaries as officers of the court in a conference entitled "Le notaire auxiliaire de justice."

Activities, 2003-2004 Academic Year

Several activities have taken place since the start of the 2003-2004 academic year.

On September 23, 2003 the second conference in the Conférences Roger-Comtois series was held. Professor Michel Grimaldi presented a lecture on the liberal intention of donors and testators entitled "L'intention libérale du donateur et du testateur." This most successful event was followed by a reception.[1]

On October 17, 2003, the Chairholder, together with Dean Jacques Frémont and Me Brigitte Lefebvre, professor and Director of the Notarial Law Program at the Université de Montréal, met with a delegation of notaries from China at the Université de Montréal. Me Ciotola took the opportunity to present the Notarial Chair and its Web site.

The first activity forming part of the Chair's 2003-2004 conference series at the Université de Montréal took place on October 21, 2003. It was a round table on the rules of professional conduct and jurisprudential controversies. (The event was originally scheduled for March 27, 2003.) With Me Pierre Ciotola as moderator, the participants were Me Pierre Pepin, a notary from Sorel, Me Sophie Bourque, an attorney, and Mr. Jean-Denis Gagnon, a labour law arbitrator.[2]

The launch of the Mélanges Jean Pineau took place on October 21, 2003. The Notarial Chair was one of the organizations which provided financial support for the publication of this work. Furthermore, the Chairholder and Me Alain Roy, Associate Researcher of the Chair, each contributed an article to this publication. Me Ciotola's text, which deals with movable and immovable security, is entitled "Droit des sûretés : épizootisme législatif ou contre-réforme," while Professor Roy's text, which deals with the role of companion animals in our society, is entitled "Papa, maman, bébé et ....Fido! L'animal de compagnie en droit civil ou l'émergence d'un nouveau sujet de droit." In addition to this article, Professor Roy wrote various articles in the field of family law, including articles published in the Revue du Notariat and in the proceedings of a conference on civil unions and same-sex parenting held at UQAM in the fall of 2002. Two of his articles on same-sex couples will soon be published by the Éditions LGDJ of Paris and in a Brazilian university journal. Concurrently with his published works, Professor Roy continues his empirical study of the normative content of contracts between spouses, managing a team of three graduate students as part of this research.

The second conference forming part of the 2003-2004 conference series of the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal took place on November 20, 2003. At this event which was moderated by the Chairholder, some fifty practitioners, professors and students listened to a lecture presented by Me Michel Beauchamp, a Montreal notary, entitled "Le devoir de conseil du notaire et auxiliaire de justice" (A Notary's Duty to Advise and His Role as an Officer of the Court).[3] The third conference in the series was held on Thursday, January 22, 2004, at 4:30 p.m., in the professors' lounge at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal. On this occasion, Me Denis Borgia spoke on the topic of a notary's duty to inform his clients and Professor Patrice Deslauriers spoke on the topic of expert evidence.

There will be two more conferences in this series. The first, to be held on Thursday, February 19, 2004, is entitled "Bouleversements de la filiation moderne par les biotechnologies : les preuves d'ADN dans le code civil du Québec" (Biotechnological Upheaval of Modern Filiation: DNA Evidence in the Civil Code of Québec). It will be presented by Mr. Henri Mbulu, a legal scholar and philosopher and holder of a doctorate in the philosophy of law. The last conference in this series will be presented on March 18, 2004 by Professor Alain Roy, Associate Researcher of the Chair, and is entitled: "Notariat et multidisciplinarité : reflet d'une crise d'identité professionnelle?" (The Notarial Profession and Multidisciplinarity: Is This a Reflection of a Professional Identity Crisis?).

It should be noted that all lectures are held in the professors' lounge at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal and are chaired by Me Pierre Ciotola. While admission is free, it is preferable to register. On-line registration is available at the following address: www.chairedunotariat.qc.ca. All of the Chair's activities are mentioned in this newspaper and on the Chair's Web site.

Promotion of the Notarial Profession Among Students

On October 29, 2003, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., the Chairholder participated in a "Happy Hour" organized by the law student's association of the Université de Montreal.

Professor Alain Roy was involved in integrating lectures presented by notaries into the undergraduate curriculum. Thus, in the fall 2003 semester, Me Katya Laprise, a notary, lectured on electronic notarial deeds as part of the course on evidence. In the winter 2004 semester, Me David Dolan, a notary, is scheduled to lecture on a practical approach to the law of movable and immovable security as part of the course on movable and immovable security. The purpose of these lectures is to provide undergraduate students with a different view of the practice of the profession and bring out notarial expertise.

Journées Maximilien Caron (CDACI)

This activity is the result of a collaborative effort between the Chair and the Centre de droit des affaires et du commerce international (CDACI). It will be held on April 16, 2004 and will deal with the topic of succession planning for SMEs.

The 125^th Anniversary Album of the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal

The album, which is intended to underline the 125 years of the Faculty's history and its link with the notarial profession, should be published at the beginning of the year 2004, with its launch scheduled for March 2004. It was prepared by the Chairholder in cooperation with Professor Jean Hétu and was made possible through the support of the Chair as well as private donations.

Web Site

Our technology watch began a few weeks ago. The Web site will be updated at the beginning of the year 2004.

Activities for the 2004-2005 Academic Year

The Roger Comtois conference series will continue next year and the conference will most probably be held in November.

Entretiens Jacques-Cartier

In connection with the Entretiens Jacques-Cartier, the president of the Chambre des Notaires, Denis Marsolais, has asked the Chairholder to prepare a one-day conference on the impact of new technologies on the defining principles of the law. The event will be held at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal on October 8, 2004.

The conference is designed to provide an update on the various facets of this phenomenon. It will examine the ways in which the law regulates technology and the future of the practice of law in light of technological changes affecting the way information is created, managed and preserved. There will be a particular emphasis on comparing the European and North American approaches to the legal issues arising from information technology. Legal experts from Europe and from Québec will speak at the event. The scientific committee for this event is comprised of the Chairholder, Professors Pierre Trudel and Vincent Gautrais of the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal as well as Professor Jean-Louis Navarro of the Université de Lyon II and Mrs. Isabelle de Lamberterie of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris.

Legal Drafting Competition

A legal drafting competition open to all undergraduate students in all the law faculties and departments in Québec and in the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa will be launched at the start of the 2004-2005 academic year. Texts submitted for consideration may have been drafted as part of a course or under the supervision of a professor. Prizes will be awarded to two winners: a first prize in the amount of $1,000 funded by the Chair itself and a second prize in the amount of $500 funded by a firm of notaries.

Other Activities

Various activities are being planned for 2004-2005 and will be described in greater detail by the next Chairholder, given that the mandate of the current Chairholder ends this May.

As this report clearly indicates, the Chair is involved in many activities and your participation in these activities is very important. Thanks are owed to those who regularly attend the Chair's events. The more participants there are, the more the Chair will be visible within the academic sector. It bears reminding that the Chair's objective is to strengthen and develop notarial teaching and research activities in order to sustain the development and influence of the profession, ensuring its durability and continuity.

[1] See the report in L'ENTRACTE, Vol.12, No. 11, November 15, 2003, p. 7

[2] See the report in L'ENTRACTE, Vol. 12, No. 12, December 15, 2003, p.8.

[3] See the report on this activity in this edition of L'ENTRACTE.