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A foetus is not a legal person and a father cannot veto an abortion.
The appellant, who was 18 weeks pregnant, decided to terminate her pregnancy after separating from the respondent.
The respondent obtained an interlocutory injunction preventing the abortion, arguing that the foetus had a right to life under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Civil Code, and that he had a right to veto the abortion as the potential father.
The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and set aside the injunction, holding that a foetus is not a 'human being' under the Quebec Charter and does not possess juridical personality under the Civil Code.
The Court also found no legal basis for a potential father's right to veto a woman's decision to have an abortion.
Hearing without notice breached natural justice and caused loss of jurisdiction.
The appellant challenged Quebec Labour Court proceedings arising from penal complaints under the Labour Code after a hearing date was reset in Montréal without prior notice while the parties attended at the originally scheduled courthouse in Val d'Or.
The Supreme Court held that setting the date and place of trial was not a purely administrative act and that the Chief Judge's decision and the hearing conducted in the parties' absence breached the audi alteram partem rule.
The Court further held that where nothing is done at the time and place fixed for trial, the tribunal loses jurisdiction over the information.
The appeal was allowed, the Court of Appeal judgment was quashed, and the Superior Court judgment authorizing evocation was restored.
