Principles of Legal ResearchFall 2008Week 3: September 22-26

Cecilia Tellis, Law LibrarianBrian Dickson Law Library

Jurisprudence– how case law is published

Anatomy of a case – Exercise

Case law reporters How to find cases

– Various methods– Introduction to the Canadian Abridgment– Exercise

Outline

Jurisprudence

Definition: the body of case law on a topic Judicial decision rendered by a judicial or

administrative court is always documented but not necessarily published

Reported = published in a case law reporter

Unreported = will not appear in a printed format in a reporter

Unreported decisions

Often available in online legal research services like Quicklaw and WestlaweCarswell

Can sometimes be obtained from the specific court

How are cases selected for publication?

Criteria can vary from publisher to publisher

E.g. the Ontario Reports cases are selected based on whether the case:– Makes new law by dealing with a novel situation or by

extending the application of existing principles – Includes a modern judicial restatement of established

principles – Clarifies conflicting decisions of lower courts, etc.

Case law reporters

extensive duplication between report series (i.e. the same case may be reported in several law report series)– Parallel citations

R. v. Sparrow,46 B.C.L.R. (2d) 1, [1990] 4 W.W.R. 410, 56 C.C.C. (3d) 263, 70 D.L.R. (4th) 385,

[1990] 1 S.C.R. 1075, 111 N.R. 241, [1990] 3 C.N.L.R. 160

7 citations to the same case

Case law reporters

Two main categories:1) General law reports:

• Decisions from a specific court• Several courts w/in a specific jurisdiction• Several courts w/in several jurisdictions

2) Specialized law reports• Include decisions discussing specific subjects of

law independent of court or jurisdiction

Anatomy of a case

Typically a published case consists of the following sections:

Style of Cause: e.g. R. v. Casarello – names of the parties to the legal dispute

Preliminary information: court name, judge(s) who heard the case, date of the decision's release

Catchlines/Catchwords: phrases and key words separated by dashes that describe the legal issues and the facts of the case

Anatomy of a case (cont’d)

Headnote: summary of the facts, issues and reasons for the decision

Authorities referred to: cases, statutes and secondary sources consulted or referred to

History of the case: if this is not the first hearing of the case, prior history will be given

Decision(s): decisions or written reasons of the judges who heard the case appear following all of the above preliminary information.

Exercise – Anatomy of a case

Work in groups of 2 or 3

How do I find cases?

Consult secondary sources– Textbooks

• Table of cases– Encyclopedias

• e.g. Canadian Encyclopedic Digest– Annotated codes

• e.g. Modern First Nations legislation annotated

How do I find cases? (cont’d)

Using the Canadian Abridgment and similar research tools that list cases by style of cause or subject

Read summaries or digests of cases

What about ?

Sometimes works – for very famous cases– to verify a citation

But…– depends on the jurisdiction– depends on year of decision– usually too many hits

Better to try a legal database• Canadian Legal Information Institute: Canlii.org• Other Legal Information Institutes• Quicklaw or WestlaweCarswell or relevant DB for your jurisdiction

Digests

A digest is a short concise summary of the court decision made soon after its release.

Commonly used digest services:– All Canada Weekly Summaries – Weekly Criminal Bulletin – Lawyers' Weekly case digests – Canadian Case Summaries– Canadian Abridgment case digests

Case digests

Read the 'digest' or summary of the case then note the citation to the full-text

Introduction to the Canadian Abridgment

Published by Thomson Carswell, the Canadian Abridgment is a comprehensive multi-volume research tool for Canadian Law

includes all reported decisions, as well as some unreported ones

Does not include decisions on Quebec Civil Law

What can I find by using the Abridgment?

Case Digests– To find case law by legal issues / topics

Consolidated Table of Cases– Case law by the case name

What can I find by using the Abridgment?(cont’d)

Canadian Case Citations– contain the citations, history, and judicial treatment of

cases by Canadian courts and tribunals Canadian Statute Citations

– judicial considerations of statutes and rules of practice

Words & Phrases Judicially Defined in Canadian Courts and Tribunals– judicial interpretation of words and phrases from all areas

of law

What can I find by using the Abridgment?(cont’d)

Canadian Current Law– To find the legislative history of statutes,

regulations and bills Index to Canadian Legal Literature

– books, articles, case comments

To find your legal issue in the Digests

The General Index lists the key legal concepts arising out of the digests

The Key & Research Guide is the Abridgment’s Table of Contents

Classification Scheme: example

Torts– XX. Trespass

• 2. Trespass to land

– C. Particular situations of trespass » i. Landlord and tenant

Volume 115 (3rd edition)

How is the General Index organized?

This is organized alphabetically by keyword, with citations to the corresponding key numbers in the main work. 

Excerpt from the General Index

Certified cheque – see Cheques, accepted or certified cheques

Certiorariin civil matters discretion of court to refuse availability of other remedy,

ADM 1.3470-3501

Cross-reference

Main topic

Sub-topicSubdivision of sub-topic

Further subdivision with locatorskey number

Case Law: by case name 1. Consolidated

Table of Cases - main volumes

2. Consolidated Table of Cases –

supplement volumes

3. Canadian Current Law: Case digests

monthly issues

Case Law: by legal issue / topicCase Digest Search

1. Main Case Digest volumes2. Case Digest supplement volumes3. Canadian Current Law: Case Digests monthly issues (not shown)

1 2 1 2

3rd edition 2nd edition

Summary Cases – reported or unreported General & specialized reporters Canadian Abridgment

– comprehensive research tool– complex, but worth understanding

Canadian Abridgment Exercise

Work in groups of 3 Work with one part of the

Abridgment for 5-10 minutes Swap volumes with another group to

finish up the other questions Will continue exercise the following

week