For nearly 30 years, Charles B. Côté has gained solid expertise in crimes against persons [sexual assault, assault, human trafficking, (Immigration Law), child abduction (domestic and international), murder], and economic crimes [corruption of public officials, fraud, breach of trust, Competition Act, Proceeds of Crime (money laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act], narcotics and drugs [growth, manufacture, possession, trafficking and importation] and electoral crimes [judicial recounts and validation of results].
He has also advised and represented companies and individuals before various public inquiries, such as the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities (Gomery Commission), the Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry (Charbonneau Commission) and the Inquiry into the Protection of Journalistic Sources (Chamberland Commission).
Charles B. Côté received a law degree from the Université de Montréal in 1987, and is a member of The Bar of Quebec and has been exclusively practising in criminal and penal law since 1989. As an experienced criminal attorney, his career path has enabled him to defend cases before nearly all judicial bodies, including the Court of Quebec, several municipal Quebec courts, Superior Court of Quebec before judge and jury, and the Court of Appeal of Quebec. He has also been involved in cases in Ontario and has acted in federal criminal proceedings as a standing legal agent for Justice Canada for several years. Between 1999 and 2010, he was also actively involved in politics as legal counsel.
In 2016, Charles B. Côté joined the Governing Counsel of the Quebec Bar Foundation, which, each year, invites a select group of people with a solid reputation in the legal community. He has also been a member of the Quebec Bar Disciplinary Committee and the Arbitration Board for Fee Disputes for Attorneys for The Bar of Quebec since 2010. Moreover, he provides legal advice for the VISEZ DROIT event organized by The Bar of Montreal.
Charles B. Côté is a member of the Association des Avocats de la défense de Montréal (AADM) or the Association of Defence Attorneys of Montreal, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He has been asked to conduct several professional development sessions and conferences during his professional career, more specifically for the AADM, the Continuing Education Service for The Bar of Quebec, and the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal within the North American Law Study Program and the Chinese Justices Training Program.
He regularly appears on the television program hosted by Isabelle Richer on RDI, as well as the television program hosted by Mario Dumont on LCN. He is regularly asked to comment on current legal issues on various television stations including Radio-Canada, RDI, TVA and LCN.
Legal commentator and popularizer―criminal current events RDI/ICI Radio-Canada Television, TVA/LCN.
Legalization of cannabis: an overview of the issues for jurists―Insurance law, Criminal Law, Labour Law Perspectives―ABC-Québec and SOQUIJ Annual Professional Development Day: New Trends in the Legal Field, Palais des Congrès de Montréal, 2018.
Chinese Justices Training Program, Equitable Justice: Fairness and Equity in the Treatment of Vulnerable Persons–Important Canadian cases on the treatment of the vulnerable person, Université de Montréal, 2017.
North American Law Study Program, Canadian Criminal Law Lecture, Université de Montréal, 2017.
VISEZ-DROIT Event―free legal clinic, The Bar of Montreal.
Arbitration of fee disputes, the bane of criminal defence attorneys, AADM, 2016.
Annual review of case law of the Supreme Court of Canada, AADM, 2009.
The appointment of attorneys under Section 486.3 of the Criminal Code, AADM, 2009.
