Last updated: September 2024

The Précis de la référence juridique de la Cour d’appel du Québec (hereinafter the “Précis”), which is currently available only in French, is intended to provide the legal community with standardized writing and citation rules. While its use is not mandatory, counsel and litigants are encouraged to use these writing rules in the pleadings, briefs and memoranda they submit to the Court. Following these rules is not a substitute for complying with the Court’s rules of procedure. In the event of a conflict between them, the Court’s rules of procedure prevail.

The first edition of the Précis, published in 2017, arose from the desire to establish a citation standard that would reflect the practice before Quebec courts, foster comprehensibility and uniformity, and make it easier to locate and consult sources, all in a spirit of accessibility.

In that same vein, the second edition comprises a number of new citation guidelines for foreign legislation and for certain types of documents that had not previously been included. It also touches briefly on typography, punctuation and other elements of style and jurilinguistics. Lastly, various examples have been added to better illustrate the rules, some of which have been refined, although the general principles remain the same as in the first edition.

The new version of the Précis is available for consultation and downloading at the following link: Précis de la référence juridique de la Cour d’appel du Québec.