October 5th marked the anniversary of the kidnapping of James Cross and the early days of what would come to be known as the ‘October Crisis’.
PhD Candidate, Darren Pacione shares his reflections on the subject in his recently published article entitled, “The FLQ Trials, 1969-1971: Judicial Tensions and Constitutional Questions“.
This essay sheds new light on the 1970 October Crisis, with particular attention paid to the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) criminal trials. Highlighting judicial tensions through a series of FLQ trials before and after the kidnappings of James Cross and the late Pierre Laporte, this article illustrate how principles of judicial independence and the separation of powers, which underlie conceptions of the rule of law, are strained in times of domestic legal emergencies.
Source: Darren Pacione, “The FLQ Trials, 1969-1971: Judicial Tensions and Constitutional Questions,” Quebec Studies 55 (2013): 101-118