Afin de faire état de la terminologie du droit privé québécois, le Centre Paul-André Crépeau de droit privé et comparé a lancé en 1981 le projet des Dictionnaires de droit privé et lexiques bilingues.

En exprimant le droit privé dans les langues anglaise et française, les Dictionnaires de droit privé / Private Law Dictionaries sont des outils de connaissance originaux qui tiennent compte du fait que le droit privé québécois évolue dans un cadre linguistique et juridique unique au monde. Ils constituent les seuls ouvrages de terminologie juridique pouvant prétendre refléter la spécificité bilingue et bijuridique de la culture juridique québécoise, en plus d’être un outil essentiel pour l’ensemble des juristes québécois, pour les traducteurs juridiques, pour les juristes de l’ensemble du Canada intéressés par le droit civil québécois et, enfin, pour les juristes œuvrant en droit comparé.

Cette page vous donne accès, dans leurs versions française et anglaise, aux dictionnaires suivants : le Dictionnaire de droit privé, 2^ème (1991), Le Dictionnaire de droit privé — Les obligations (2003), Le dictionnaire de droit privé — Les biens (2012), Le Dictionnaire de droit privé — Les familles, 2^èmeéd (2016). Un projet de Dictionnaire de droit privé — Successions est actuellement en cours, et sera progressivement ajouté à la base de données.

Afin de faciliter vos recherches, nous vous invitons à consulter la page de présentation des Dictionnaires, qui expose les principes ayant guidé la présentation des entrées et présente les différents éléments qui forment la structure des articles. La rubrique d’aide pourra également vous être utile afin de découvrir les diverses fonctionnalités du moteur de recherche.

Le Centre Paul-André Crépeau de droit privé et comparé tient à remercier le Ministère de la Justice du Canada et la Chambre des Notaires pour leur appui financier pour la conduite des projets lexicographiques ainsi que l’Association du Barreau Canadien qui contribua à la mise en ligne Dictionnaire de droit privé — Les familles, 2^èmeéd (2016).

In 1981, the Paul-André Crépeau Centre of Private and Comparative Law launched its Private Law Dictionaries and Bilingual Lexicons in order to present the terminology of the Quebec private law.

By expressing the private law in the French and English languages, the Private Law Dictionaries/Dictionnaires de droit privé are original tools which take account of the unique linguistic and juridical landscape in which the Quebec private law evolves. These are the only publications of legal terminology which can claim to reflect the bilingual and bijuridical specificity of Quebec’s legal culture. They serve as an essential tool for jurists and translators in Québec, for those across Canada interested in the Québec civil law, as well as for those working in the field of comparative law.

This website gives access, in their French and English versions, to the following dictionaries : the Private Law Dictionary, 2^nd ed. (1991), the Private Law Dicitonary–Obligations (2003), the Dictionary of Private Law–Property (2012), the Private Law Dictionary–Family, 2^nd ed. (2016). The Private Law Dictionary-Successions is in progress, and will gradually be added to the database.

To facilitate your research, please consult the "Guide to the Use of the Dictionaries", which presents the guiding principles behind the entries and the different components of their structure. The Help Section may also be useful in understanding the search engine’s various functions.

The Paul-André Crépeau Centre for Private and Comparative Law would like to thank the Department of Justice of Canada and the Chambre des Notaires for their financial support of the dictionary projects, as well as The Canadian Bar Association, which will contribute to the online version of the Private Law Dictionary of the Family, 2^nd ed. (2016).

Le projet des Dictionnaires en bref

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

COMMON LAW

1. Juridical rules of general application, in a particular branch of law, as opposed to exceptional rules. For ex., the general theory of contract in the Civil Code, as opposed to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act; the regime of partnership of acquests (art. 464 C.C.Q.), as opposed to that of separation as to property.“[The private law's] origins lie in the seventeenth century when Louis XIV adopted measures by which the colony of New France was provided with the first elements of an organized legal system and, more lasting in importance, an initial body of customary but written law in the form of the Coutume de Paris, the 'common law’ (droit commun coutumier) of northern France, upon which many of the Quebec Civil Code's provisions were subsequently to be based” (Brierley, (1968) 14 McGill L.J. 521, p. 522). Occ. Art. 366 C.C.Obs. 1º In Quebec, the Civil law³ constitutes the common law¹ of private law, whereas the Common law³ constitutes the common law¹ of public law. 2º In private law, these rules are principally but not exclusively contained in the Civil Codes. Syn. droit commun. Ant. special law¹. See also prescription of common law. Fr. droit commun¹+, droit supplétif².2. Body of rules of law developed and applied in England by the Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer, as opposed to the rules of Equity³ applied by the Court of Chancery. “In England the rigidity of the Common law, a system of positive law linked to procedural considerations, made necessary the elaboration of other rules, called rules of equity, intended to complete and correct the Common law. Such a need was never felt in the Romano-Germanic family and, as a result, its member-countries knew nothing of the fundamental English distinction between Common law and Equity” (David and Brierley, Major Legal Systems, p. 45). Obs. 1º This body of rules has been progressively developed since the Norman conquest of England (1066), by the royal courts, which sought to standardize the law throughout the realm, thereby superseding local customs. 2º In England, the duality of Common law² and Equity³ was abolished by the Judicature Acts of 1873-1875; a new jurisdiction was then created: the High Court of Justice made up of three divisions: Queen's Bench, Chancery and Probate (previously Probate, Divorce and Admiralty). In the Canadian Common law provinces, where comparable divisions existed, they were progressively integrated into a unified judicial system. 3º Notwithstanding the merging of the jurisdictions, the two systems of rules remain distinct; even though all courts can apply both Common law rules as well as those of Equity³, the equitable remedies, for ex., injunction, are distinguished from the Common law remedies, for ex., damages. It is acknowledged, however, that in the event of conflict between the rules of Common law and those of Equity, the latter must prevail. Ant. equity¹. Fr. common law¹+, droit coutumier³.3. English law of judicial origin, as opposed to statutory law. Fr. common law²+, droit commun².4. Legal system of England and of those countries which have received English law, as opposed to other legal systems, especially those evolved from Roman law. “The rule [respecting the transfer of ownership] which the courts of France and Quebec have rejected has also managed to survive, albeit in modified form, in the more protective judicial atmosphere of the common law, where it has finally been codified in the Sale of Goods Acts of England and the other provinces of Canada” (Le Dain, (1952-55) 1 McGill L.J. 237, p. 251). Obs. Canada is a Common law country, except in the case of Quebec which, since the transfer of New France to the British Crown by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, has retained its law of French derivation in matters of "property and civil rights", pursuant to the terms of the "Quebec Act" of 1774. See also civil law³. Fr. common law³.5. Law generally applicable in Common law⁴ legal systems in the absence of legislation to the contrary. Fr. common law⁴.6. Secular law of England, as opposed to Ecclesiastical law. Fr. common law⁵.

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