Court rejects Quebec lieutenant-governor's appeal

The Quebec Court ofAppeal court has rejectedformer provincial lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault'srequest to have fraud charges against her dropped.

The auditors-general of Quebec and Canada concluded in a joint report in 2007 that Thibault was reimbursed for $700,000 in expenses that were not related to her official duties.

Thibault was charged in September 2009 with fraud, breach of trust and creating counterfeit documents. The charges relate to her time in office, from 1997 to 2007. Thibault has pleaded not guilty and denies allegations she spent money excessively.

Thibault's lawyer, Marc Labelle, had argued that as the Queen's representative, she was granted immunity from prosecution. He asked the Quebec Superior Court to drop the charges on the little-used legal principle that "the Queen can do no wrong" in other words, the Crown cannot prosecute the Crown.

TheSuperior Court judge refusedand ordered Thibault's case to go to trial.

Now that her appeal against that decision has been denied, Thibault will have to stand trial or take her appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.