The Rule of Law
Québec is a society of law where life is good. The province offers heath, education and social measures suited to everyday life that rely on four main principles: universality, equity, services of public nature and continuous service improvement.
Québec is governed by a legal system. That legal framework regulates the conduct of individuals, groups and governments, their relations with one another and it defines their rights and obligations.
Based on the fundamental principles of law, this legal system features first of all a constitution, which recognizes the existence of the legislative branch, the executive branch and an independent judicial branch, and establishes a division of powers between the federal and provincial levels.
The Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms expressly recognizes that every person possesses certain freedoms and certain fundamental rights, which the government itself cannot restrict except by means of a law, the reasonable nature of which it may be required to justify before a court.
History and the common will of Quebecers have maintained a society in which power is exercised in a democratic manner and in which law takes precedence over force.
The government and the local and regional authorities have the freedom to make political choices, which the people can approve or reject in the course of consultations, referendums and elections, and by any other legitimate means.
But whatever these choices are, they are subject to legality, which means that law and regulation enactment and administrative decision-making must be conducted within a legal framework, and that the courts have the power to ensure that this is so.
Similarly, the relations between the government and the governed and the exercise of the rights of the one with respect to the other follow rules and procedures aimed at guaranteeing equity, openness and impartial treatment by a competent judicial and administrative system.
So that all Quebecers may be aware of the law that governs them, the texts of the laws, regulations and all other rules that apply to them are fully accessible to and widely circulated in the community in their integral versions, in summary form, or through any other medium explaining their content.
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