THE COURT STRUCTURE OF QUEBEC AND LOWER CANADA, 1764 TO 1860
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APPENDIX
LEGISLATION RELATING TO THE TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Proclamation August 28, 1764
Dividing Quebec into the District of Quebec and the District of Montreal.

4 George III September 17, 1764 (in force with amendments 1764-1775)
Dividing Quebec into the District of Quebec and the District of Montreal.

27 George III c.4 (1787) (in force with amendments 1787-1794)
Allowing for the erection of the District of Gaspé.

Proclamation July 24, 1788
Establishing the limits of the new districts in the western part of the province (what would become Upper Canada).

30 George III c.5 (1790) (in force 1790-1794)
Allowing for the erection of the District of Trois-Rivières.

34 George III c.6 (1794) (in force with amendments 1794-)
Dividing Lower Canada into the District of Quebec, the District of Montreal, the District of Trois-Rivières, and the Inferior District of Gaspé.

3 George IV c.17 (1823) (in force with amendments 1823-)
Erecting the Inferior District of St. Francis.

10&11 George IV c.17 (1830) (in force 1830-)
Modifying the boundaries of the District of Trois-Rivières.

3 William IV c.18 (1833) (in force 1833-)
Renaming the Inferior District of St. Francis the District of St. Francis.

3&4 Victoria c.45 (1840) (never in force)
Allowing for the division of Lower Canada into four principal divisions, Montreal, Quebec, Trois-Rivières, and Gaspé.

4&5 Victoria c.20 (1841) (in force 1841-1844)
Allowing for the division of the existing districts into inferior districts.

7 Victoria c.17 (1843) (in force with amendments 1844-)
Renaming the Inferior District of Gaspé the District of Gaspé.

12 Victoria c.38 (1849) (in force with amendments 1849-)
Allowing for the erection of the Districts of Kamouraska and Ottawa.

20 Victoria c.44 (1857) (in force 1857-)
Dividing Lower Canada into nineteen districts, including twelve new ones, and allowing the new districts to be fully established for civil and criminal matters by proclamation. The new districts were fully established for civil matters in 1858, including the first sittings of the Superior and Circuit Courts (proclamations of February 10, 1858). The establishment of the new districts for criminal matters and in regards to the civil jurisdiction and administrative powers of the justices of the peace did not occur until 1861/1862 (proclamations of October 4, 1861 and March 14, 1862).

22 Victoria c.5 (1858) (in force 1858-)
Erecting the District of Chicoutimi on the same basis as the districts established in 1857 (for civil matters by proclamations of October 20, 1858 and for criminal matters by proclamation of October 4, 1861).


Donald Fyson, with the assistance of Evelyn Kolish and Virginia Schweitzer, The Court Structure of Quebec and Lower Canada, 1764-1860 (Montreal: Montreal History Group, 1994/1997/2023). http://www.profs.hst.ulaval.ca/Dfyson/Courtstr/

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