Yolanda Koscielski (Burnaby) and Andrea Cameron (Surrey), Liaison Librarians for Criminology January 23 rd and 24 th, 2014

PART 1 1. Key terminology & concepts 2. Understanding a case citation 3. Noting up a case 4. Secondary legal literature PART 2 4. Experience searching 5 legal databases/legal treasure hunt

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 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 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

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

 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

 Significant overlapping coverage in case law cases covered in various databases  Free sources (e.g. CanLii) are easily accessible  Subscription sources often include: value-added tools such as summarizing headnotes, subject classification, and research tools such as the Canadian Abridgement Digest

 Style of cause = plaintiff and defendant  This report can be found in the 69th volume of the Dominion Law Reports on page 433  The "2nd" tells you that the DLR has been published in multiple series; the second series was  SCBC indicates this was a Supreme Court of British Columbia decision

Examples:  LeBrun v High-Low Foods Ltd. (1968), 69 D.L.R. (2 nd ) 433 (S.C.B.C.)  McLean v. Thompson (2009), 2009 CarswellBC 3712 (B.C. Prov. Ct.)  R. v. Oakes, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 103, 26 D.L.R. (4th) 200, 65 N.R. 87 (S.C.C.)  Hopp v Lepp, [1980] 2 SCR 192, 112 DLR (3d) 67

Wells v. Newfoundland (1997), 156 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 271, 483 A.P.R. 271, 5 Admin. L.R. (3d) 113, (N.L.C.A.) The same citation as seen online in LawSource: 1997 CarswellNfld 199

 Case name (Appellant + Respondent)  Year of decision  Volume number of law report  Law reporter name (Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island Reporter)  Page number in law report volume  Other law reporters (aka parallel citations)  Series number of law report, as applicable  Court the case was heard in 156 Wells v. Newfoundland (1997), 156 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 271, 483 A.P.R. 271, 5 Admin. L.R. (3d) 113, (N.L.C.A.)

 Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 7th edition (2010)  Also known as the McGill Guide  The official source for legal citation in Canada, used by the legal community  See Queen’s Legal Citation web page for more guidance on McGill styleQueen’s Legal Citation web page

 Means you are researching a case to see if… › it has been cited, including “followed”, in subsequent cases › the decision has been overturned in a higher court  The note up tools have different names, depending on the database you use  Process ensures you have found the most recent (i.e., legally relevant) version of a case using the note up tools

 Terminology for noting up a case differs between databases  Quicklaw terms for judicial considerations: › Distinguished — cited case is held to be inapplicable due to a difference in fact or law. › Explained — citing case adds to, expands upon, or interprets cited case. › Followed —The judge expressly relies on the cited case as a precedent on which to base a decision. › Also: Followed in Minority Opinion, Cited, Cited in Dissenting Opinion, Mentioned, Not Followed, Questioned

 Searching primary sources directly for case law by keyword is usually not recommended › Keyword = 1000s of unrelated hits › Exception: very unique terminology › Start with secondary legal sources and/or specialized legal research tools, such as:  Canadian Encyclopedia Digest  Canadian Abridgment Digest

 Examples: articles from academic legal journals, case commentary, newsletters and digests by legal experts  Uses of secondary lit:  Current awareness of legal issues (e.g., weekly digests)  Efficient way to locate case law by topic  Provide understanding of legal issues and case law in context

Case Law Law Reports Articles and Journals Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) Canadian Abridgment Digest (CAD)

 Multiple products on one platform that can be browsed/searched separately  Browse functions on the left, search on the right  Click on LawSource (or CriminalSource) tab to revert to main search screen  Quirk: default searching is for ANY of the search terms entered, not ALL of them › Solution: use quotation marks to search as a phrase or add the word “AND” between each search term

 Less is more; re-search the most unique words of your search string if you are not getting results › E.g., Instead of Toward a Proper and Complete Instruction for Photo Lineups: Preserving the Probative Value of Identification Evidence, try, Photo Lineups  Relevancy ranking of results is less intuitive

Case law Canadian criminal legislation Canadian Sentencing Digest Criminal legal commentary and journals

 Busy interface! Note Search Templates for different products/info types on left, including All CriminalSource Content  CNTR + F to search full text in cases  Browse a particular source with left-side option of “other commentary”; an empty search is possible if you’d like to browse commentary sources by date

Case Law Martin’s Criminal Code Drug Offences in Canada Criminal Law Quarterly Other legal commentary and texts

 Search on the right, browse on the left. Browsing is particularly effective in legal databases  Browse individual books/journals (e.g., Drug Offences in Canada) in the Commentary section, left-hand side  Martin’s Criminal Code is found under Commentary>Criminal Legislation>Martin’s Criminal Code and Related Legislation  Less can be more (in terms of search terms entered). This is the case with most legal databases.

Case Law Legislation Canadian and international legal journals Other legal commentary and texts

 Tab Searching option › E.g., Legislation, Journals, etc. brings up search templates  Need to find a particular book, journal, or other title? › Enter keywords of source title in Find a Source. Be exact! › Beware Terms and Connectors Search  Many ways to get to the same content in QuickLaw

 Legal Information guide Legal Information guide  Browse databases by subject area – Law Law

 Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison librarian for Criminology at Burnaby  Andrea Cameron, Liaison Librarian for Criminology at Surrey General queries:  AskUsDesk  AskAway  TextUs