Pierre-Basile Mignault (September 30, 1854 – October 15, 1945) was a Canadian lawyer and

Puisne Justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the Supreme Court of Canada. Born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, the son of Pierre-Basile Mignault and Catherine O'Callaghan, he received a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

in 1878. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1878. He then proceeded to practice law in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. His ''Droit civil canadien'', a nine-volume work on Québec's civil law published during 1885–1916, and its relation to the French tradition, continues to be cited by the courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. As a judge on the Supreme Court of Canada during 1918–1929, Mignault also had a key role in countering a long-standing centralising tendency in Canadian private law, and in increasing the Court's sensitivity to the subtleties of Québec's legal tradition. Mignault saw Québec private law as “surtout fille de la France coutumière” (particularly the heir of French pre-revolutionary customary law), yet also a meeting place for a diversity of philosophical and cultural approaches. He is buried in

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 ...

. Parc Mignault in Montreal is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mignault, Pierre-Basile Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada 1854 births 1945 deaths McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Further reading

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