Jules Deschênes, (June 7, 1923 – May 10, 2000) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Quebec Superior Court judge. Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, to Wilfrid Deschênes and Berthe Bérard, he completed

grade school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

under the supervision of les Clercs de Saint-Viateur and classical studies under les Messieurs de Saint-Sulpice. He graduated from the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and was admitted to the

Bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec (french: Barreau du Québec) is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Ca ...

in 1946. From 1946 to 1960 he practiced law. In 1961, he was named

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. In 1962 he was elected to the Council of the

Bar of Montreal The Bar of Montreal (french: Barreau de Montréal) is the section of the Bar of Quebec for lawyers in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has it beginnings in 1693 when, as a Royal Province of the French colonial empire, ''Canadien'' lawyers ...

. In 1962 he started to teach law at the University of Montreal. On January 8, 1964 he accepted to prosecute at the Commission of Inquiry into the famous

Coffin affair The Coffin affair was an event in Canadian history in which a man named Wilbert Coffin was hanged for the murder of three men. The affair started in June 1953 in Gaspésie when three men from Pennsylvania were reported missing. Their bodies were f ...

. In 1972 he was appointed a Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal. In 1973 he was appointed, by

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

, Chief Justice of the

Quebec Superior Court The Superior Court of Quebec (french: Cour supérieure du Québec) is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Qu ...

. He served in this position for ten years. From 1984 to 1987 he was involved with the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities. In 1985 he was appointed to head the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada on alleged war criminals in Canada in which he officially reprimanded those special interest groups within the Jewish Canadian community whom, he wrote, had tabled "grossly exaggerated" claims about the number of alleged war criminals supposedly hiding in Canada. He submitted his report in 1986. He was the 102 president of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

from 1990 until 1992. From 1993 to 1997, he sat on the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

. He published his autobiography, ''Sur la ligne de feu'', in 1988. After his death in 2000, he was entombed at the

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

in Montreal. He married Jacqueline Lachapelle in 1948. They had two daughters and three sons.

Honours

* In 1977 he was elected a Fellow of the

. * In 1981 he received an honorary doctorate from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. * In 1989 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1992.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deschenes, Jules 1923 births 2000 deaths Lawyers from Montreal Judges in Quebec Companions of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada French Quebecers Université de Montréal alumni International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia judges Canadian King's Counsel Université de Montréal Faculty of Law alumni Canadian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery 20th-century Canadian lawyers