Principles of Legal Research Fall 2008 Week 3: September Cecilia Tellis, Law Librarian Brian 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 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.orgCanlii.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 digestsLawyers' Weekly –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 LawThomson Carswell  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 (3 rd 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 Certiorari in civil matters discretion of court to refuse availability of other remedy, ADM Cross-reference Main topic Sub-topic Subdivision of sub-topic Further subdivision with locators key 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 / topic  Case Digest Search 1. Main Case Digest volumes 2. Case Digest supplement volumes 3. Canadian Current Law: Case Digests monthly issues (not shown) rd edition2 nd 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