C. Accessing Statutes (Step 2)

• Author: Ted Tjaden
• Profession: National Director of Knowledge Management McMillan LLP
• Pages: 70-73

Contenidos

• 1) Finding Current Statutes (Online).
• 2) Finding Older Statutes (in Print).
• 3) Reading Legislation.

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Once you have determined the correct jurisdiction in Step 1 (federal, provincial, or municipal), the next step is to identify and then consult the relevant statute, which is simply an Act or law enacted by elected government officials. As mentioned above, researchers will sometimes have a choice between print and online resources for conducting legislative research. If the research being done is historical, there is often no choice but to follow the traditional print method of finding statutes, discussed below. If the goal is to find a current version of a statute (or regulation), then use of online resources can save time and avoid some of the multiple steps involved in using the traditional print method.

1) Finding Current Statutes (Online)

If you are looking for a current statute, using free online resources through CANLII or the applicable government website is your easiest starting point (as long as you then follow Step 3 below to verify that the online version of the statute you are looking at is current and has not been amended or repealed).

Finding an online statute is as simple as browsing for your statute alphabetically by title (see Table 5.10 for a list of Canadian online legislative websites). Most online versions of statutes indicate how current the Act is (see the example in Figure 3.1 showing the date of currency for the federal government’s legislative website). Make note of this date since you will need to check (in Step 3) whether there were any amendments to your statute in the "gap" between the currency date indicated in your statute and the day you are conducting your research. In most situations, the online statute will be current to within a few weeks to a few days, depending on the jurisdiction (and it is reasonable to assume that governments in the near future will make their legislation current to the day, thereby eliminating the need in Step 3 to update your online statute).

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Figure 3.1

Department of Justice Laws Website (showing date of currency)

[SEE ATTACHED PDF]

Another way to find current statutes online is to search by keyword on the applicable site. On CANLII, for example, you have an option to "Search all CANLII Databases" limited to legislation by using keywords in either the "full text" field or the "statute name field." This is a very powerful search if you are not...