Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison Librarian for Criminology, Philosophy, Psychology and Legal Research Mark Christensen, Reference Librarian Cristen Polley, Reference Librarian Natalie Rocheleau, Reference Librarian

OBJECTIVES: PART 1 1.Key terminology & concepts 2.Understanding a case citation 3.Primary and secondary legal literature PART 2 Try out some legal databases!

ASSIGNMENT Your assignment will guide you through various legal resources step-by-step. It consists of right or wrong answers. Today we will focus on getting a sense of the big picture of legal research + a few key things you need to know to complete the assignment

COURT SYSTEMS Court SystemsDescription Superior Major civil and criminal cases heard in this court. Most case law found in our in legal databases originates from this court system. Inferior A high volume of cases, including criminal cases Often known as “provincial court” Typical jurisdiction: small claims, traffic offences, criminal offences, family matters Federal Some designated matters go to federal court: e.g., copyright, industrial design, patents, cases around the legality of federal gov’t actions Note: superior and inferior court structures and names will vary between provinces. Check websites, e.g., Provincial Court of British ColumbiaProvincial Court of British Columbia Table adapted from: Legal Research on the Web, Winter 2012 course material, iSchool Institute, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

LEVELS OF COURT: SUPERIOR COURT SYSTEM Level of CourtExamples 1 st level: Trial CourtBritish Columbia Supreme Court, Court of Queen’s Bench (Alberta), Ontario Superior Court of Justice 2 nd level: Appellate CourtBritish Columbia Court of Appeal, Alberta Court of Appeal, Ontario Court of appeal 3 rd level: Supreme Court of Canada Supreme Court of Canada Table adapted from: Legal Research on the Web, Winter 2012 course material, iSchool Institute, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

SOURCES OF LEGISLATION: STATUTES AND REGULATIONS LevelExample FederalDepartment of Justice Website ProvincialBC Laws/Queen’s Printer BC *There are official sources for legislation. Additionally, legislation is available through commercial databases and CanLii.

TERMINOLOGY: CASE LAW Case Law = “The entire collection of published legal decisions of the courts” Law Report = “A serial publication which publishes, verbatim, judgments of a court of law…. There are thousands of law reports in the world today…Some courts issue their own decisions…Many law reports are the work of private companies such as LexisNexis”.Law Report Law reports can be printed and/or online. Increasingly, court judgments are directly available for free from court websites. Law Reporters may publish based on geography, court level, or case topics. Definitions are from Duhaime.orgDuhaime.org

TERMINOLOGY: CASE LAW The terms Case Law, Reasons for Decisions, Judgment (*no ‘e’!) are often used interchangeably Main content of published case law/judgments should be identical, regardless of reporter Case law/judgments available through both free and subscription sources

WHERE TO SEARCH Significant overlapping coverage in case law cases covered in various databases Significant overlap in Act and Regulation coverage as well amongst the database.

UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS

FIND A CASE! You will most often search for a case on a website by either: 1) case name (Moore v Bertuzzi), or, 2) case citation (2005 BCSC 419)

KEY CONCEPT: PRIMARY LEGAL LITERATURE Primary legal literature: Case law, statutes, regulations. The actual sources of law. Canada (excluding Quebec) uses the common law system, where the law is based upon case law and legislation. Searching primary sources directly for case law is usually not recommended

KEY CONCEPT: SECONDARY LEGAL LITERATURE Secondary legal literature is writing about the law, but not the source of the actual law itself  To find cases, start with secondary legal sources and/or specialized legal research tools, such as:  Canadian Encyclopedic Digest  Academic Legal Journals

DATABASES DEMO  Where to find legal databases on Library homepage  Finding and Noting up a case, Wells v Newfoundland, [1999] 3 SCR 199

PRACTICE!

QUESTIONS? Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison librarian for Criminology at Burnaby Ask A Librarian Legal Research Guides