Court of Appeal upholds Quebec ruling that invalidated random police stops

MONTREAL — Quebec’s Court of Appeal has upheld a landmark 2022 decision that found a law permitting random traffic stops by police led to racial profiling.

The province’s high court agreed with a Superior Court ruling that declared inoperative an article of the province’s Highway Safety Code that allows police to randomly stop drivers without a reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed.

The Court of Appeal says in the unanimous decision released Wednesday that the law violates Charter rights, including freedom from arbitrary detention and equality rights.

The legal action was brought by Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a 22-year-old Black Montrealer who said he had been stopped by Quebec police nearly a dozen times without reason, and none of the stops resulted in a ticket.

Superior Court Justice Michel Yergeau wrote in the October 2022 decision that “racial profiling does exist. It is not a laboratory-constructed abstraction … It is a reality that weighs heavily on Black communities. It manifests itself in particular with Black drivers of motor vehicles.”

Yergeau said evidence had shown over time that arbitrary power granted to the police to make roadside stops without cause became “for some of them, a vector, even a safe conduit for racial profiling against the Black community.”

“The rule of law thus becomes … a breach through which this sneaky form of racism rushes in,” he added.

The Quebec government had appealed the ruling, arguing the ruling deprived police of an important tool. A senior government minister said they were disappointed with the outcome, adding they would take time to go over the 72-page Appeal Court ruling.

“This was obviously not the desired goal,” Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said in a statement late Wednesday. “This decision could have a direct impact on the work of police officers to ensure the safety of the population.”

Luamba was backed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in his constitutional challenge of the practice, with a lawyer representing the organization calling it an enormous victory for equality rights.

Lex Gill, one of the lawyers representing the civil rights group, said to her knowledge, it was the first time the courts have invalidated a police power on the basis it contributes to systemic discrimination.

“By unanimously upholding the Superior Court’s landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal has helped chart a new course for equality rights and civil liberties in Canada,” Gill said in an emailed statement.

“The judgment confirms that where broad, arbitrary and discretionary police powers create a pretext for discrimination and abuse, they will not survive constitutional scrutiny.”

The 2022 decision only affected random stops and not structured police operations such as roadside checkpoints aimed at stopping drunk drivers.

The decision was appealed by the provincial government, and some civil rights groups believe the matter could end up before the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Court of Appeal ruling by a three-judge panel gives the provincial government six months to make the necessary changes to the Highway Safety Code.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press