c-25.01, r. 0.5 - Regulation respecting indemnities and allowances payable to witnesses summoned before courts of justice

Updated to 2 May 2024

This document has official status.

chapter C-25.01, r. 0.5

Regulation respecting indemnities and allowances payable to witnesses summoned before courts of justice

Code of Civil Procedure

(chapter C-25.01, art. 273).

Code of Penal Procedure

(chapter C-25.1, art. 367).

Act respecting payment of certain witnesses

(chapter P-2.1, s. 2).

The former alphanumerical designation of this Regulation was: chapter C-25, r. 7.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2; O.C. 60-96, s. 1.

1. Definitions

In this Regulation,

“witness” means any person summoned before a court having jurisdiction in civil, penal or criminal matters, including the Youth Division of the Court of Québec, in order to testify in accordance with the law;

“witness summoned by the prosecutor” means any person summoned by the prosecutor in criminal matters, in federal penal matters or in penal matters governed by the statutes of Québec.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 1; O.C. 1289-97, s. 1; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP).

2. Indemnity for loss of time:

(1)  The indemnity payable to a witness is set at $90 per day. However, such indemnity is reduced to $45 when the duration of the loss of time of the witness does not exceed 5 hours.

(2)  A witness recognized and declared an expert by the court is entitled to an indemnity of $180 per day. However, such indemnity is reduced to $90 when the duration of the witness’s loss of time does not exceed 5 hours.

On express request of an expert witness, and for exceptional reasons, the prosecutor in the case of a witness summoned by him in a criminal or penal matter, and the court in other cases, may increase the indemnity of the said witness. Such increase is not claimable from the opposing party.

(3)  Such indemnity is not paid to witnesses who, pursuant to Acts, orders in council, contracts, understandings or collective agreements, do not suffer a loss of wages as a result of their being summoned as witnesses.

Such indemnity is not paid to witnesses for a day of absence should such day fall on a holiday, on 26 December, on 2 January or on a Saturday, unless said absence entails a loss in wages.

Such indemnity is not paid to those persons hereinafter designated when they are summoned, in the exercising of their duties, to testify in a case:

(a)  members of the Sûreté du Québec;

(b)  members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

(c)  members of a municipal police force;

(d)  special constables in the employ of railway companies or other companies;

(e)  any other special constable or officer of the peace being paid as such.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 2; O.C. 60-96, s. 2; O.C. 1289-97, s. 2; O.C. 379-2002, s. 1; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP); O.C. 704-2024, s. 1.

2.1. Calculation of the loss of time:

(1)  The loss of time of a witness who appears remotely from his or her home or place of work is calculated from the time the witness is called to attend at court to the time the witness receives permission to leave.

(2)  The loss of time of a witness who appears in person at a hearing or of a witness who appears remotely from a place other than his or her home or place of work is calculated from the time the witness leaves his or her home to the time the witness returns to his or her home.

(3)  The loss of time of a witness who appears remotely may not exceed the loss of time the witness would have incurred if he or she had appeared in person at the hearing.

O.C. 704-2024, s. 2.

3. Allowances for meals, accommodation and transportation are those granted to the members of the staff appointed according to the Public Service Act (chapter F-3.1.1) and provided for in the Directive sur les frais remboursables lors d’un déplacement et autres frais inhérents (C.T. 227502, 2022-12-13) and its subsequent amendments.

In the case of a witness who appears remotely from a place other than his or her home or place of work, allowances are calculated on the basis of a trip of a distance not greater than that between the home of the witness and the courthouse to which the witness would have been summoned if he or she had appeared in person at the hearing.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 3; O.C. 379-2002, s. 2; O.C. 704-2024, s. 3.

4. A witness who appears remotely from his or her home or place of work receives no allowance.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 4; O.C. 379-2002, s. 2; O.C. 704-2024, s. 4.

5. (Replaced).

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 5; O.C. 379-2002, s. 2.

6. A witness who must appear several days in a case, and whose home is at a distance from the place where he must testify, is free to travel or not. However, indemnities and allowances to be paid in such a case must always be calculated as if the witness had taken the less costly option.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 6; O.C. 1289-97, s. 3.

7. (Revoked).

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 7; O.C. 1289-97, s. 4.

8. The following persons called as witnesses shall receive no indemnity or allowance:

(a)  court officers and public officers having their office in the building where the Court sits;

(b)  the assistants of said officers, as well as employees under their control;

(c)  the members of the prison staff situated at the county seat;

(d)  any person held in prison or under detention;

(e)  any person, even one summoned as a witness, who is obliged to appear as an accused on the same day.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 8; O.C. 1289-97, s. 5; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP).

9. To the extent prescribed by this Regulation, the Ministère de la Justice shall pay the indemnities and allowances to witnesses summoned by the prosecutor:

(a)  for a pre-inquiry or a preliminary inquiry held at the instance of the Attorney General of Québec or for the hearing of a criminal prosecution or a federal penal prosecution brought by the Attorney General of Québec;

(b)  for the hearing of a prosecution brought under the Code of Penal Procedure (chapter C-25.1) by the Attorney General of Québec.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 9; O.C. 1289-97, s. 6.

10. The presence of a member of the Sûreté du Québec or of a municipal police force who, in the performance of his duties, appears as a witness shall be attested in accordance with this Regulation, but the amount of the indemnity and allowance shall not be paid to him by the competent court officer.

In the case of the collection of that amount by the clerk, the latter shall remit the amount, in the case of a member of the Sûreté du Québec, to the Minister of Finance or, in the case of a member of a municipal police force, to the municipality, the metropolitan community or the intermunicipal management board concerned.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 10; O.C. 60-96, s. 3; O.C. 1289-97, s. 7; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP).

11. The party ordered to pay the expenses is not obliged to pay the expenses of witnesses other than expenses determined under this Regulation.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 11; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP).

12. In accordance with subsection 840 (2) of the Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46), the fees and allowances mentioned in paragraphs 25 and 26 of the schedule to Part XXVII of that Code shall not be taken or allowed in Québec in proceedings before summary conviction courts and justices under that Part of the Criminal Code. The indemnities and allowances provided for in this Regulation shall be taken and allowed in lieu of those fees and allowances.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 12; O.C. 1289-97, s. 8.

13. Officers of justice, having the authority to attest the presence of and amount owing to witnesses, must conform to the directives which the Minister of Justice considers expedient to give them, in order to render the application of this Regulation uniform.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2, s. 13; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP).

REFERENCES

R.R.Q., 1981, c. C-25, r. 2

S.Q. 1988, c. 21, s. 66

S.Q. 1990, c. 4, s. 619

O.C. 60-96, 1996 G.O. 2, 1000

O.C. 1289-97, 1997 G.O. 2, 5147

O.C. 379-2002, 2002 G.O. 2, 2132

O.C. 704-2024, 2024 G.O. 2, 1141