Legislation, Case Law & Legal Citation

Find It: Legislation What is it? Bills, statutes and regulations Where do I find it? In print, which is still the official version Online, through the websites of the governments of Canada and British Columbia In QP LegalEze, which offers more current versions of BC statutes and regulations

Cite It Special rules of citation have been developed for citing primary legal resources. These rules are outlined in your Guide to Legal Citation handout.

RSC 1985 RSC 1985 RSC 1985 RSC 1985 RSC 1985 RSC 1985 Vol. I Chapters A1 – C5 Vol. II Chapters C6 – E7 Vol. III Chapters E8 – G3 Vol. IV Chapters H1 – M8 Vol. V Chapters M9 – R2 Vol. VI Chapters S1 – Y4 SC 1986 SC 1987

Remember The Revised Statutes of Canada (R.S.C.) were last revised in Anything that came into effect after this date will be a sessional statute and referred to simply as the Statues of Canada (S.C.)

Cite It: Legislation From the printed version: Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46. Name of statute/act = Criminal Code Jurisdiction = Canada (R.S.C. or S.C.) Year = 1985 (year of last revision, or year passed) Chapter no. = C-46 (no letters for sessional statutes)

Cite It: Legislation From an online source: Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, online: Dept. of Justice Canada.

Remember The Revised Statutes of British Columbia (R.S.B.C.) were last revised in Anything that came into effect after this date will be a sessional statute and referred to simply as the Statues of British Columbia (S.B.C.)

Cite It: Legislation Basic format: Parental Responsibility Act, S.B.C. 2001, c. 45. Name of Act = Parental Responsibility Act Jurisdiction = statutes of Canada, or of a province Year = In this case, the year of the sessional volume Chapter no. = the chapter in the sessional volume for 2001

Cite It: Legislation From the printed version: Parental Responsibility Act, S.B.C. 2001, c. 45. From an online source: Parental Responsibility Act, S.B.C. 2001, c. 45, (QPLE).

Find It: Case Law What is it? Decisions of the courts Where do I find it? In print through law report services (Dominion Law Reports, Canadian Criminal Cases, BC Law Reports) Online through the higher courts and through paid subscription services

Cite It: Case Law Basic format: R. v. Latimer, [2001] 1 S.C.R. 3. Name of case (style of cause) = R. v. Latimer Year of publication of decision = 2001 Volume no. = 1 Abbreviated title of the reporting service = S.C.R. (Supreme Court Reports) Page no. = 3 If the title of the reporting service does not make obvious the court in which the decision was handed down, add the abbreviated name of the court in parentheses at the very end.

Cite It: Case Law From a printed report service (traditional): R. v. Latimer (1995), 126 D.L.R. (4th) 203 (Sask. C.A.). From an online source (judgments from the courts in electronic form are cited using neutral citation): R. v. Coulson, 2003 BCSC 144.

Martin’s Annual Criminal Code A current and authoritative BOOK resource for accessing decisions from all levels of court, including reported and unreported cases. Includes: Criminal Code Charter of Rights & Freedoms Youth Criminal Justice Act Young Offender’s Act (now repealed)

Annotations in Martin’s Hunter v. Southam Inc., [1984] 2 S.C.R. 145, 14 C.C.C. (3d) 97, 11 D.L.R. (4 th ) 641.

Annotations in Martin’s Hunter v. Southam Inc. [1984] 2 S.C.R C.C.C. (3d) D.L.R. (4 th ) 641