Date: 20010220
Docket: IMM-6269-00
Neutral citation: 2001 FCT 96
BETWEEN:
MOURAD BELHADJ BOUCHAIR
AND
AICHA AOUADI
Plaintiffs
- and -
THE MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
Defendant
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
BLAIS J.
[1] This is a motion to dismiss the application for leave and application for judicial review pursuant to Rules 4 and 369 of the Federal Court Rules (1998).
[2] On December 11, 2000 the plaintiffs filed an application for leave and an application for judicial review in the case at bar.
[3] The plaintiffs signed the said application for leave, which clearly indicates that they represented themselves in the Court.
[4] On January 9, 2001 the plaintiffs filed their record, which was served the same day.
[5] According to the affidavit of Nathalie Angers, a paralegal employed by the federal Department of Justice, it appears that the memorandum of arguments served on the Department of Justice was signed not by the plaintiffs themselves but by Jasmine Gohier, an immigration consultant.
[6] It appeared, again according to the same affidavit by Ms. Angers, that Jasmine Gohier is not a member of the Quebec Bar.
[7] It further appeared that on January 9, 2001 Jasmine Gohier sent a document to the federal Department of Justice by fax, as a substitute for p. 24 of her memorandum, namely the signature page, to replace it by a new page which had no signature.
[8] It is probable from reading the memorandum that a third person, probably Jasmine Gohier, participated in preparing it.
[9] It seems beyond question that Jasmine Gohier acted as counsel in preparing a document to be filed in the Federal Court without being authorized to do so, as required by s. 11 of the Federal Court Act.
[10] However, it is only the last four pages of the plaintiff's record, the portion titled [TRANSLATION] "memoranda", which appears to have been prepared by Ms. Gohier and which, in the record filed with the Court, does not bear her signature. The other documents in the record are the application for leave signed by the two plaintiffs, a certified copy of the decision by the Immigration and Refugee Board and the affidavit signed by Mourad Belhadj Bouchair dated January 2, 2001. In addition there is Exhibit P-1, which is a dispatch from the France Presse agency and three other press clippings, as well as a birth certificate for Rayane Belhadj Bouchair.
[11] I have considered the judgment by Denault J. in Parmvir Singh v. M.C.I., June 23, 2000, IMM-1320-00 (F.C.). In Parmvir Singh, supra, the plaintiffs had filed an affidavit in reply to the motion to dismiss, in which they had tried to explain the reasons which might justify recourse to a person who is not qualified under the Bar Act.
[12] In the case at bar the plaintiffs did not even see fit to respond to the motion or to explain why they used the services of someone who was not qualified to represent them in the Federal Court.
[13] I therefore conclude that the instant application for leave and application for judicial review must be dismissed.
[14] For these reasons, THE COURT
- allows the instant motion;
- dismisses the application for leave and application for judicial review; and
- requests the Court Registrar to send to the Quebec Bar a copy of the judgment so as to inform it of a flagrant instance of illegal practice of the profession of attorney by Jasmine Gohier, immigration consultant.
|
|
Pierre Blais
Judge |
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
February 20, 2001
Certified true translation
Suzanne M. Gauthier, Trad. a., LL.L.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT No.: IMM-6269-00
STYLE OF CAUSE: MOURAD BELHADJ BOUCHAIR et al.
v.
MCI
THIS MOTION WAS DECIDED IN WRITING PURSUANT TO RULE 369
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: BLAIS J.
DATED: FEBRUARY 20, 2001
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
MOURAD BELHADJ BOUCHAIR and
AICHA AOUADI FOR THE APPLICANT
Montréal, Quebec
DANIEL LATULIPPE FOR THE RESPONDENT
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada