Andrew Barbacki

Mr. Barbacki is a former Crown Prosecutor who holds Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Law degrees from McGill University. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1976 and began his career as a Crown Prosecutor in Montreal. After seven years experience prosecuting all types of criminal cases Mr. Barbacki moved on to a position in Ottawa as the Coordinator of the Criminal Law Review for the Solicitor General of Canada, where he stayed until 1986. He then returned to Montreal to lecture at the Faculty of Law at McGill University, teaching Criminal Procedure.
Mr. Barbacki has experience in the defence of criminal cases in Montreal and adjoining districts involving importing, trafficking and possession of drugs and regulated substances. For example:
Operation 2001- a police operation directed against the Hell’s Angels bikers and their affiliated clubs. Court proceedings lasted more than one year and the evidence consisted of hundreds of computer discs of evidence generated by hundreds of witnesses. Mr. Barbacki presented a technical procedural motion which caused the prosecution sufficient difficulty to enable the favourable resolution of the case against a large number of the defendants.
Project Colisee involving a sweeping police operation directed at the high levels of organizations reputed to control drug trafficking in Montreal.
Apart from criminal defence of major drug cases in Montreal and neighbouring districts Mr. Barbacki has helped numerous individuals avoid the serious consequences of criminal charges relating to possession of drugs for personal purposes. Since 9/11 the importance of avoiding a criminal record has gained increased importance. Criminal defence lawyers in Montreal are often faced with the defence of recreational users of soft drugs. Finding ways of avoiding a criminal record is often necessary to prevent an isolated incident from having an extremely negative impact on a promising future.
In many cases the ability to identify the weakness in the prosecution’s case by applying the legal principles governing the admissibility of evidence enables criminal cases to be settled without long term consequences.