Article

Roncarelli v Duplessis

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited March 4, 2015

 In 1946, Maurice DUPLESSIS, then premier and attorney general of Qué, caused the Liquor Commission chairman to revoke the liquor licence of Frank Roncarelli, a Montréal restaurant owner, so ruining the restaurant.

Roncarelli v Duplessis

In 1946, Maurice Duplessis, then premier and attorney general of Qué, caused the Liquor Commission chairman to revoke the liquor licence of Frank Roncarelli, a Montréal restaurant owner, so ruining the restaurant. Roncarelli was innocent of all misconduct, but the authorities thought him troublesome because he (legitimately) provided bail for many Jehovah's Witnesses charged (groundlessly, as the Supreme Court later held) with supposed offences resulting from the distribution of religious pamphlets attacking Roman Catholicism (see Saumur v City of Québec). The Supreme Court (1959) held that the premier had committed a civil wrong and ordered him personally to pay damages.