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Table of Contents
An excellent web guide to Canadian legal research is Ted Tjaden, Doing Legal Research in Canada http://www.llrx.com/features/ca.htm. ConstitutionThe Constitution Act 1982 specified that certain statutes and orders were to be assigned a special constitutional status. For helpful information on these statutes see A Consolidation of the Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982 (KE4165 2001) and Peter W. Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada (KE4219 .H645 1992). The appendices volume to the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985 (KE89 1985) contains the original texts of most of the constitutional documents.StatutesCanadian statutes, federal and provincial, appear first in gazettes. They are published next in either sessional or annual volumes and are also consolidated from time to time in volumes called revised statutes.At the federal level, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985 (KE89 1985) is the latest consolidation. An alpha-numeric symbol was given to each statute for this edition. This set consolidates the statutes in force on December 31, 1984. Supplement volumes update the set through 1991, the date on which the revised statutes were proclaimed into force. A volume of appendices contains a schedule which lists all the acts and parts of acts that were superseded by the new revised statutes. It arranges the acts by the session law chapter number and for each act lists the name and the effect of the revised statutes. It also contains a subject listing of statutes in the Table of Public Statutes. The supplement also contains the History and disposal of Acts table. This table indicates where previous statutes were put in the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985. A separate volume contains a subject index to the statutes. The Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985 (KE89 1985) can be updated a couple of ways. Canada Statute Citator (KE106 .C25 1989), a looseleaf service by Canada Law Book Inc., prints amendments to statutes. The complete history of each act is included. The acts are listed alphabetically by name. The Canada Gazette, Part III (KE91) periodically publishes a Table of Public Statutes. The last one was published in 1993 and covers statutes from 1907 to December 31, 1992. The acts are listed by name and indicates where in the most recent consolidation the statute can be found. Additionally, Statutes of Canada (KE87 .A215), is an annual compilation of all Acts passed that year (essentially a bound edition of the Canada Gazette, Part III). To locate case citations to federal statutes, Canada Statute Annotations (KE106 .C36x 1991) covers cases during 1971 to 1988. Canada Statute Citator covers 1989 till the present. Every series of reports published in Canada are covered as citing cases. These citators are arranged by the name of the act. Unfortunately, the Criminal Code is not included in this set. For electronic sources, see section IX below. Administrative LawThese are first published in Canada Gazette, Part II (KE119 1978x Suppl Pt 2), which is published several times a month. They are occasionally consolidated, the latest consolidation being Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978 (KE119 1978x). This consolidation contains regulations that were in force on December 31, 1977. Canadian Current Law (KE173. C36x) has a table of regulations in each monthly part that lists all new and amending regulations and the sections of regulations affected.Administrative decisions may be published by the agency or in commercially prepared looseleaf services, much like the United States. For example, Canadian Labour Relations Boards Reports (KE3146.4 .C363) and Land Compensation Reports (KE5175 A45 L36). For electronic sources, see section IX below. Case LawThe Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court in Canada, was established in 1875. From 1875 to 1922 the decisions of the Supreme Court were officially printed in Reports of the Supreme Court of Canada (KE140 .A22x), which are referred to as Supreme Court Reports (S.C.R.). In 1923 to 1969 the official Supreme Court Reports were entitled Canada Law Reports: Supreme Court of Canada (KE140 .A23x) but were still referred to as Supreme Court Reports. From 1970 to the present the official reports are entitled Canada: Supreme Court Reports (KE140 .A24x).Unofficially, the Supreme Court decisions have been published since 1912 by Canada Law Book Ltd. in Dominion Law Reports (KE132 .D65x) now in its fourth series, and since 1974 by Maritime Law Book Ltd. in the National Reporter (KE138 .N37x) (Law Library holdings end in 2003). Both of the unofficial reporters include cases from other courts. The lower court, also created in 1875, was the Exchequer Court of Canada. From 1875 to 1922 the decisions of this court were officially printed in Reports of the Exchequer Court of Canada (KE142 .A22x), referred to as Exchequer Court Reports. From 1922 to 1969 they were officially printed in Canada Law Reports: Exchequer Court of Canada (KE142 .A223x). In 1971 the court was renamed the Federal Court and the official reporter name changed to Canada: Federal Court Reports (KE142 .A23). Unofficially, the reports of this court have been published since 1912 in the Dominion Law Reports and since 1974 in the National Reporter. The provinces also publish the decisions of their courts. The Dominion Law Reports include decisions from the highest courts of the provinces as well as the Supreme Court and Federal Court. For electronic sources, see section IX below. Finding AidsA comprehensive digest of Canadian case law, both federal and provincial, is The Canadian Abridgment (KE173 .C35 1966-). In 2003, the publisher launched the third edition of this digest. The main volumes are digests of cases arranged by subjects. It also includes a general subject index, consolidated table of cases, cases judicially considered table, statutes judicially considered table, words and phrases, and index to Canadian Legal Literature. To update the main digest and all the finding aids and citators, one uses four permanent supplements, the looseleaf volumes, and finally Canadian Current Law (KE173 .C36x). Canadian Current Law is a monthly publication that updates all of the parts of the Canadian Abridgment. It is cumulated annually. To learn how to use the set, a "Research Guide and Key" is provided in the looseleaf volumes.Also very helpful is the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (KEO142 .C36x 1973-), which is a legal encyclopedia covering federal and Ontario law. This source contains articles on various subjects. Extensive footnoting provides references to federal and state cases and statutes. A comprehensive subject index is included. In each title there is a table of cases and statutes referred to in that title. Each title is updated by yellow sheets in the front of the title. The date on which the sheets are issued is indicated on each page. A "Research guide and Key", which should always be consulted before using this source, is also provided in this service. The National Reporter (KE138 .N37x; Library holdings end in 2003) allows a subject approach to federal cases since 1973. The publisher, Maritime Law Book Ltd., has created a topic and number system similar to West's. Each case has headnotes at the beginning with assigned topics and key numbers. Every 10 volumes, covering approximately two years, a digest volume is published which digests cases by the topic and number system. Each digest volume also includes a topical digest using key words. After the latest digest volume, one must use each volume of the National Reporter to update the digest. Advance sheets are also published, but the Library's holdings end in 2003. A table of cases is included. A Butterworth publication, Supreme Court of Canada Reports Service (KE140.2 .S86 1969; Library's holdings end in 2003), has a subject index and table of cases to every supreme court decision since 1875, regardless of where it was published. A subject index that is a companion to the official reporter of the Supreme Court of Canada, entitled Index to the Supreme Court of Canada Reports (KE140.5 .I53x 1952), covers the years 1876 to 1950. A table of cases is also included. A companion to the Dominion Law Reports is the Dominion Law Reports: Index, Annotations, Table of Contents (KE132.3 .D657x). A consolidated table by subject covers all cases reported in the Dominion Law Reports from 1911 to 1950. This is updated by later books entitled Index and Annotation Service. A table of cases for the 2d series is published separately. A volume entitled Annotation Service provides a table of cases for the 3d series. The Index and Annotation Service volumes contain table of cases for the 4th series. Federal Court Reports: Consolidated Index (KE 142 A231x) is published as a companion to the Federal Court Reports. It includes a subject index for the federal court and a table of cases for the years 1971 to 1984. CitatorsThe Canadian Abridgment (KE173 .C3514x) provides tables of cases and statutes judicially considered. Cases are listed by the name of the case, not the cite. Both the cited and citing cases are supposed to include cases from federal and provincial courts. Therefore, if you have a cite to any Canadian case you should be able to determine whether any other court in Canada has cited it. This set is updated in Canadian Current Law (KE173 .C36x). The Dominion Law Reports also have a citator that allows you to determine whether any case reported in D.L.R. has been cited in any other court in Canada. Since D.L.R. claims to report cases from all the courts of Canada, this should allow you to determine where any case from any Canadian court has been cited by any other Canadian case. Cases are listed by the D.L.R. cite. This set is updated by an annual cumulative volume.The National Reporter (KE138 .N37x; Library holdings end in 2003) also provides a citator service in the ten volume digests and the reporters. This service lists those cases cited by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Canada. It is arranged alphabetically by case name. Law ReviewsThe Canadian Index to Legal Periodicals, which is a part of the Canadian Abridgment, covers Canadian legal literature. Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature (Ref. KE8 I53x) indexes Canadian legal literature with subject, author, case, and book review indexes. Index to Legal Periodicals (K33 .I54x), the Current Law Index (K33 .C87) and LegalTrac (Law Library web page) also index Canadian materials.General Reference SourcesThree Canadian legal dictionaries are available in the Reference Office: The Dictionary of Canadian Law (3d ed.), KE 183 .D53x 2004; Basic Canadian Legal Terminology, KE 183 .W54; and Canadian Law Dictionary (4th ed.), KE 183 .Y63 1998.For general information about Canadian legal sources see Banks, Banks on Using a Law Library (1994) (Reference Office KE250 .B35x 1994). Internet SitesA. General Research Sites
B. Statutes and Regulations
D. Government Sites
E. Miscellaneous Sites
Updated 2/07 |
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