What are “Primary Sources”?
Cases (Courts) & Legislation (Government: Statutes, Regulations and Rules) are considered “primary sources”. Textbooks, etc. are Secondary Sources often known as commentary.
Ontario Court System
- Superior Court
- The Court has jurisdiction over criminal, civil (including the Commercial List and Estates List) and family cases.
- The Divisional Court, Small Claims Court, and Family Court are all branches of the Superior Court of Justice.
- Ontario Court of Justice
- Court of Appeal
- Supreme Court of Canada
Queens has an extensive guide about case law, finding cases, noting up cases and More!
How do I find Cases?
o Find a document using its name or citation: ex. Swanson, 2004 CarswellOnt 5382
• CanLII, Quicklaw, Westlaw, vlex all have extensive Canadian case law collections
• They have Find options so that you can type in your case name or statute into a search box
• Click on their HELP option – often a ? in the upper right corner for assistance
How do I make sure my cases are “good law”? How do I Note-up a case?
Noting up a case refers to searching the history of your case to see if it was reversed on appeal or if other cases distinguished it or overruled it. You are looking for how do other judges consider the facts of your case in making their decision. This is called its judicial consideration.
Lawyers prepare a factum to present to a judge to help prove their point (argument). Their factum includes a list of cases that they want the judge to consider and therefore rule in their favour. Lawyers (Library staff) should ensure that these cases have not been over-ruled by a later judge in a subsequent decision. This means that they need to check that the case they cited in their factum is still “good law” (note it up). Sometimes just one point in a long case can be contentious or over-ruled but it is good to note-up a case to see if there has been anything that has happened since the initial judgement has been made.
Noting up can also apply to legislation. It means searching for cases which apply or interpret the Act or usually a section of the Act.
Other terms include “case annotations”, “legislation judicially considered”, or “statutes judicially considered”. Sometimes lawyers ask “if the law is still good”.
Lexis+ uses QuickCite to show the judicial consideration of case/statute.
Westlaw uses KeyCite. There can be some differences in treatments depending upon the coverage of each resource which vary by date and jurisdiction.
You can also Note-up using the Note-up/Discussion box on CanLII.
Factums / Memoranda
A factum is a persuasive legal document submitted to a court to advocate a particular position. It often includes a list of the cases the lawyer wants to the judge to consider when making their ruling.
A factum is different than a Memorandum, which shows a balanced analysis of facts; a factum is trying to advocate a particular point and persuade the court that their argument is in fact correct. A comprehensive guide to writing a factum, is provided by the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
What is a citation? / Citation Guides
Case citation serves two functions: first, citation allows the reader to find the decision, journal, statute, rule. Citation provides a road map that directs the reader to where to locate the law.
- Canadian Open Access Citation Guide aka COAL – RJAL Guide created by your colleagues across Canada and hosted on CanLII: https://canlii.ca/t/7nc6q
- Citation of law reports in the Ontario Court of Appeal
- McGill Guide
- Queen U’s Guide to legal citation
- Supreme Court of Canada uses Neutral citation
- A neutral citation is composed of three elements: the year of decision, the acronym for the jurisdiction and level of court, and the ordinal number. For example, a neutral citation that reads “2012 BCCA 206” means that it was the 206th decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) from 2012. All Canadian courts have adopted the neutral citation standard
- List of Abbreviations for Canadian Law Reports and Judgements
- Prince’s Dictionary of Legal Citations: : a reference guide for attorneys, legal secretaries, paralegals, and law students.
- Formerly known as Bieber’s Citation Guide – good guide for exhaustive list of all citations including Blue Book (American Citation Guide).
Case Law Citation Examples
CanLII
Dickson v Royal Bank of Canada, 1975 CanLII 148 (SCC).
Kei-Ron Holdings Ltd. v Coquihalla Motor Inn Ltd., 1996 CanLII 3443 (BCSC).
Westlaw (including Source products)
In Roads Consultants, Re, 2022 CarswellOnt 17556 (Westlaw).
Lexis+
Sauer v Canada (Agriculture), [2008] OJ No 3419 (ONSC).
Reported Case
Glanville v Glanville Estate, 168 DLR (4th) 332 (BCCA).
Unreported Judgment
Radonna Investments Ltd v Rubin, 2012 ONCA 321.
R v Lyon, [1898] OJ No 129 (ON H Ct J).
Stephenson v Stephenson (6 December 1984), Nanaimo 5920/004143 (BC SC).
History of a Case (see a Citation Guide for an explanation)
Gooderham v Toronto (City), 1895 CanLII 38, 25 SCR 246 (SCC), rev’g (1892) 19 OAR 641, [1892] OJ No 67 (ONCA), rev’g (1891) 21 OR 120, [1891] OJ No 59 (ONHCJ).