CANADIAN LEGAL RESEARCH

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CANADIAN LEGAL RESEARCH

• ALR International Law
• February 16, 2004

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Introduction to Canadian Law

• Judicial system of (1) Provincial Courts and (2)
  Federal Courts.
• Federal Court of Limited Jurisdiction.
• Constitution / Statutes / Judicial Review.
• A useful introduction to Canadian law and legal
  institutions is G.L. Gall, The Canadian Legal
  System (KE444.G34.1995).

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Finding Canadian Caselaw

• Provinces are responsible for the administration
  of justice, organization of their court systems,
  and appointment of judges to lower courts.
• Supreme Court of Canada (final court of appeal
  for fedl/provincial courts Criminal/Civil).
• Provincial court systems vary in structure
  name, although most have a Ct. of Appeal and
  various lower courts.

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Canadian Reporting System

• Canada has no systematic reporting system.
• FIRST REPORTS Canada Supreme Court Reports
  (Archives-KE140.R46) Canada Law Reports Supreme
  Court of Canada (Archives-KE132.5.J63).
• SINCE 1971 Canada Federal Court Reports
  National Reporter Dominion Law Reports
  (KE132.D66 - full set of 1st-4th series).

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Other Reporters

• Reports for each of the Canadian provinces.
• Provincial Reports by various publishers.
• Multi-provincial coverage, e.g. Atlantic
  Provinces Reports (1975-present) Western Weekly
  Reports (1912-present).
• See also the Virtual Canadian Legal Information
  Institute (LexUM) at http//www.lexum.umontreal.ca
  /index_en.html.

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Finding Updating Cases at Marquette Law

• Citation variances.
• Case-finding tools usually accompany specific
  reports.
• Canadian Abridgment, 2d (most comprehensive,
• 1966-present)(KE173.A1.C36).
• Contents/Helpful Research Aids General Index,
  Case Table, Digest references, Words Phrases,
  Canadian Citations.
• Other Digesting Services in Canada.

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Constitutional Law in Canada

• Until 1982, the primary source was the British
  North America Act, 30 31 Vict., ch. 3 (1867).
• In the Canada Act of 1982, the UK Parliament
  relinquished its legislative role in Canada.
• Basic Canadian Constitutional Documents e.g.
  Canadian Charter of Rights Annotated.

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Statutory Research in Canada

• No Subject Codification of the Canadian statutes
  like the United States Code.
• The present version of the federal statutes is
  the Revised Statutes of Canada (KE89.1985)(proclai
  med in force in Dec.1988).
• Chapters in the Revised Statutes are designated
  by letter and number.

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Statutory Research, continued

• Canadian Acts of Parliament are published at the
  end of the parliamentary session or after each
  year in bound volumes, known as the Statutes of
  Canada (KE78.S72).
• Current Acts are published during the course of
  the year in issues of the Canada Gazette Part
  III.
• Publication of provincial legislation follows the
  federal paradigm of sessional vols./revisions.
• Quebec caveats for legal research.

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Updating Statutes in Canada

• A cumulative Table of Public Statutes in the
  Canada Gazette Part II lists all more recent acts
  and federal acts in the latest Revised Statutes.
• Statutory changes and interpretative cases can be
  found in the looseleaf Canada Statute Citator.
• The Statutes Judicially Considered and Canadian
  Citations components of the Canadian Abridgment
  provide extensive references to cases citing both
  federal and provincial statutes.

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Canadian Regulations

• Access to Canadian regulations is similar to the
  process for Canadian statutes.
• Federal regulations in force and of genl
  application are printed in the Consolidated
  Regulations of Canada (19 vol. print set or
  available online- http//www.canlii.org/ca/sta/
  ).
• Regulations amending or revoking those in the
  consolidation are found in biweekly issues of the
  Canada Gazette Part II (available online-
  http//canadagazette.gc.ca/index-e.html ).

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Canadian Regulations, continued

• In Canada Gazette Part II, there are two separate
  series S.O.R. for statutory order and
  regulations and S.I. for other statutory
  instruments.
• The first step in Canadian federal regulatory
  research is to check the Consolidated Index for
  Statutory Instruments in the Canada Gazette Part
  II (quarterly index).
• Provincial regulations are published in official
  provincial gazettes, usually following the
  arrangement of the Canada Gazette Part II.

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Secondary Legal Resources for Canadian Law at
Marquette

• Dictionary of Canadian Law (Carswell)(Ref.
  KE183.D8).
• Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation
  (KE259.C36).
• Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature
  (KE173.A85.C362).
• Legal Writing and Research Manual
  (KE265.Y63.1988).

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Canadian Law on the Web

• LexUM (Univ. of Montreal Law Website)
  http//www.lexum.umontreal.ca/index_en.html.
• Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII)
  http//www.canlii.org/.
• Louise Tsangs Overview of Sources of Canadian
  Law on the Web http//www.llrx.com/features/can
  adian2.htm.
• Doing Legal Research in Canada
  http//www.llrx.com/features/ca.htm.
• Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research
  http//legalresearch.org (a good tutorial).

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Lexis Databases for Canadian Law

• http//www.lexis.com/.
• Legal gt Legal (excluding U.S.) gt Canada.
• Canadian Cases Federal Courts, Provincial
  Reports, Law Reports, Digests, and Topical
  Categories.
• Legislation Regulations (Consolidated)
  Federal, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and
  Quebec.
• Martindale-Hubbell Intl Law Digest.

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Westlaw Databases for Canadian Law

• http//lawschool.westlaw.com.
• Canadian Research Tab Case Law, Statutes,
  Regulations, Journals, and Treatises.
• Directory gt International/Worldwide
  Materials gt Country Materials gt Canada.
• Contents Canadian Abridgment, Cases by
  Jurisdiction, Topic, or Carswell Law Reports,
  Topical or Federal Legislation, Rules, Statutes,
  and Legislation, Journals, and Treatises for
  Canadian legal research.

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