1. YOLANDA KOSCIELSKI, LIBRARIAN FOR CRIMINOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY YSK6@SFU.CA LBST 330: LEGAL RESEARCH

2. OBJECTIVES Provide a introduction to legal research to fulfill course needs: Understand case citations Use the legal databases CANLII and Quicklaw Locate decisions and statutes in databases Use the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) and the Canadian Abridgment Digest (CAD) to locate decisions on topic

3. 1. UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS Case name=plaintiff & defendant, petitioner & respondent, etc. 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 1956-68 SCBC indicates this was a Supreme Court of British Columbia decision

4. UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS Examples: LeBrun v High-Low Foods Ltd. (1968), 69 D.L.R. (2 nd ) 433 (S.C.B.C.) 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 Silva v. Silva, 2014 BCSC 29 Neutral citation = cite a case without relying on court reporters; a persistent and unique identifier for a case EXERCISE

5. UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS 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 in 2 electronic databases: 1997 CarswellNfld 199 (LawSource/Carswell) 1997 CanLII 14705 (NLCA) (CANLII) Queen’s University Legal Citation Guide

6. Case name (Appellant + Respondents) Year of Decision Volume number of law report Law reporter name (Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island Reporter) Page number in that 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.)

7. Case name (Complainant + Respondent) Date of decision Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Decision number 36 of 2013 Rai v. Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2013 CHRT 36

8. CANLII “CanLII is a non-profit organization managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. CanLII's goal is to make Canadian law accessible for free on the Internet. This website provides access to court judgments, tribunal decisions, statutes and regulations from all Canadian jurisdictions”. Free & easy to use Continually improving & expanding

9. CANLII Use Scope of Databases link to search within decisions from: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal 1979 – BC Human Rights Tribunal 2008 – BC Labour Relations Board 2004 – BC Labour Arbitrations Awards 2010 – Links to associated legislation included Date range limited; may need to use other sources for older decisions DEMO x 2

10. NOTE UP A CASE Means you are researching a case to see if… it has been cited in subsequent cases the decision has proceeded to a higher court Process ensures you have found the most recent (i.e., legally relevant) version of a case DEMO

11. KEY CONCEPT: SECONDARY LEGAL LITERATURE 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

12. KEY CONCEPT: SECONDARY LEGAL LITERATURE Primary Legal Literature: case law + decisions Secondary Legal Literature: articles from academic legal journals, case commentary, newsletters and digests by legal experts, textbooks 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

13. DECISIONS BY TOPIC Quick intro to 3 sources: Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) Canadian Abridgment Digest (CAD) Quicklaw’s secondary sources

14. CANADIAN ABRIDGMENT DIGEST Available in LawSource database “Digests of Canadian case law that are organized by legal issue according to a single taxonomy” Scope: over 750,000 cases 1803  all reported cases 1986  all unreported and reported cases Updated daily A case may be “digested” in more than one subject category DEMO

15. CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIC DIGEST Available in LawSource Database > 225 entries on legal topics Entries provide “a comprehensive statement of the law, as derived from case law and legislation” Footnotes will point you to key legislation and seminal cases DEMO

16. QUICKLAW Case Law Academic Legal Journals EXERCISES

17. QUESTIONS? Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison Librarian for Criminology & Psychology at Burnaby ysk6@sfu.caysk6@sfu.ca Rebecca Dowson, Liaison Librarian for History & English & Labour Studies, rda26@sfu.carda26@sfu.ca General queries: AskUsDesk AskAway TextUs