Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison Librarian for Criminology,
Philosophy, Psychology and Legal Research (ysk6@sfu.ca)
Mark Christensen, Reference Librarian
Cristen Polley, Reference Librarian
Natalie Rocheleau, Reference Librarian
OBJECTIVES:
PART 1
1. Key terminology & concepts
2. Understanding a case citation
3. Primary and secondary legal literature
PART 2
Try out some legal databases!
ASSIGNMENT
Your assignment will guide you through
various legal resources step-by-step. It
consists of right or wrong answers.
Today we will focus on getting a sense
of the big picture of legal research + a
few key things you need to know to
complete the assignment
COURT SYSTEMS
Court Systems
Description
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 designated 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 Columbia
Table adapted from: Legal Research on the Web, Winter 2012 course material, iSchool
Institute, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
LEVELS OF COURT: SUPERIOR COURT
SYSTEM
Level of Court
Examples
1st level: Trial Court
British Columbia Supreme Court, Court of
Queen’s Bench (Alberta), Ontario
Superior Court of Justice
2nd level: Appellate Court
British Columbia Court of Appeal,
Alberta Court of Appeal, Ontario Court
of appeal
3rd 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
SOURCES OF LEGISLATION: STATUTES
AND REGULATIONS
Level
Example
Federal
Department of Justice Website
Provincial
BC Laws/Queen’s Printer BC
*There are official sources for legislation.
Additionally, legislation is available through
commercial databases and CanLii.
TERMINOLOGY: CASE LAW
Case Law = “The entire collection of published legal decisions of the
courts”
Law Report = “A serial publication which publishes, verbatim,
judgments of a court of law…. There are thousands of law reports in
the world today…Some courts issue their own decisions…Many law
reports are the work of private companies such as LexisNexis”.
Law reports can be printed and/or online. Increasingly, court
judgments are directly available for free from court websites.
Law Reporters may publish based on geography, court level, or case
topics.
Definitions are from Duhaime.org
TERMINOLOGY: CASE LAW
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
WHERE TO SEARCH
Significant overlapping coverage in case
law cases covered in various databases
Significant overlap in Act and Regulation
coverage as well amongst the database.
UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS
UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS
UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS
UNDERSTANDING CASE CITATIONS
FIND A CASE!
You will most often search for a case on a website
by either:
1) case name (Moore v Bertuzzi), or,
2) case citation (2005 BCSC 419)
KEY CONCEPT: PRIMARY LEGAL
LITERATURE
•Primary legal literature:
•Case law, statutes, regulations. The actual
sources of law.
•Canada (excluding Quebec) uses the
common law system, where the law is based
upon case law and legislation.
•Searching primary sources directly for case
law is usually not recommended
KEY CONCEPT: SECONDARY LEGAL
LITERATURE
• Secondary legal literature is writing about the
law, but not the source of the actual law itself
To find cases, start with secondary legal sources
and/or specialized legal research tools, such as:
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest
Academic Legal Journals
DATABASES
DEMO
Where to find legal databases on Library
homepage
Finding and Noting up a case, Wells v
Newfoundland, [1999] 3 SCR 199
PRACTICE!
QUESTIONS?
Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison librarian for
Criminology at Burnaby ysk6@sfu.ca
Ask A Librarian
Legal Research Guides