Finding and Updating Cases

• Author: Arlene Blatt/JoAnn Kurtz
• Pages: 199-253

199

13

Finding and Updating

Cases

Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, you will understand:

• Why case law is an important part of legal research

• How to find cases using print sources

• How to update cases using print sources

• How to find cases using online sources

• How to update cases using online sources

Introduction 200

Getting the Big Picture 200

Finding and Updating Cases: Print Sources 201

Looking for Cases About a Particular Subject:

Canadian Abridgment Case Digests 201

Looking for Cases That Interpret a Statute 217

Looking for Cases That Consider a Word or

Phrase 218

Looking for a Case Using a Partial or Incorrect

Citation 218

Looking for Unreported Cases 219

Finding the Text of the Case Using the Case

Citation 219

Updating Cases 220

Finding and Updating Cases: Online

Sources 222

Canadian Abridgment Digests 222

Westlaw’s Cases and Decisions Database 226

Lexis Advance Quicklaw (Quicklaw) 233

BestCase Library 240

Canadian Legal Information Institute

(CanLII) 244

Finding the Text of a Case 244

Updating Cases with Online Sources 246

Key Terms 253

Exercises 253

Copyright © 2020 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

200 PART VI FINDING AND UPDATING STATUTES, REGULATIONS, AND CASES

Introduction

After determining whether any statutes or regulations are relevant to the issue you are

researching (see Chapter 12), you must find out whether there is any case law relevant

to it. Case law may interpret or comment on the statutory or regulatory provisions

that govern the issue. It may also be a source of binding law. In the case of a common

law (judge-made) issue, the case law will be decisive. Therefore, even if your search

for a relevant statute produces nothing, you must not assume there is no binding law

concerning your issue. You must check the case law. If there is relevant case law, you

first have to find the text of the case(s), and then you must update the case(s) to see

whether the law is still relevant.

The online coverage of statutes and regulations, as we have seen, is very thorough

and generally free. The online coverage of cases is less thorough by comparison, and

it tends to be more expensive (though CanLII offers free access to case law). A further

complication, where case law is concerned, is that you may have to turn to print

sources when you are looking for the text of a court or tribunal decision, because not

all older cases have been published online.

This chapter discusses how to find and update case law using both print and online

sources.

Getting the Big Picture

With case law, as with statutes and regulations, your first task is to determine whether

there is in fact any law relevant to the topic you are researching. And, as with statutes

and regulations, we encourage you to start your research by looking in a secondary

source, such as

• a legal encyclopedia,

• a textbook,

• an article, or

• a case digest.

The legal encyclopedias (Canadian Encyclopedic Digest [CED] and Halsbury’s Laws of

Canada [Halsbury’s]) will provide a general statement of the law on the topic and cite

relevant case law. However, you may find in these sources references to only the leading

cases and not to all those that may be relevant to your issue. The CED and Halsbury’s

are available in both print and online versions. (Print legal encyclopedias are discussed

in Chapter 10, and online legal encyclopedias are discussed in Chapter 11.)

To find a textbook on your topic, check in a law library catalogue under the topic

name. (Library catalogues are usually published online, so you should not have to deal

with a print catalogue.)

To find an article on a subject, consult the Index to Canadian Legal Literature,

which is part of Carswell’s Canadian Abridgment. The Canadian Abridgment is avail -

able in print and through the subscription service WestlawNext Canada (Westlaw).

If you want to look beyond the leading cases, look at Carswell’s Canadian Abridg-

ment Case Digests, discussed in detail below.

Copyright © 2020 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

CHAPTER 13 FINDING AND UPDATING CA SES 201

Finding and Updating Cases: Print Sources

This part of the chapter covers print sources only and discusses the following topics:

• how to look for cases about a particular subject;

• how to look for cases that interpret a statute;

• how to look for cases that consider a word or a phrase;

• how to look for a case when you have a partial or an incorrect citation;

• how to look for unreported cases;

• how to look for the text of a case by using its citation; and

• how to update cases.

There are a number of different secondary sources that you can use to find case

law on the issue you are researching. Which source you use will depend on the reason

you are looking for case law. The following questions will help you determine which

source you should use:

1. Are you looking for case law dealing with a specific subject o r legal issue?

If so, you should use the Canadian Abridgment Case Digests.

2. Are you looking for cases that have interpreted a statute or a section of a

st atu te?

If so, you should use Canadian Statute Citations (part of the Canadian

Abridgment) or a Canadian or provincial/territorial statute citator.

3. Are you looking for case law that considers a word or a phrase?

If so, you should use Words & Phrases Judicially Defined in Canadian

Courts and Tribunals (also part of the Canadian Abridgment).

4. Are you looking for a case using a partial or an incorrect citation?

If so, you should use the Consolidated Table of Cases or the Canadian Case

Citations volumes of the Canadian Abridgment.

5. Are you looking for an unreported case?

If so, you should use a digest service such as the All-Canada Weekly

Summaries.

Looking for Cases About a Particular Subject:

Canadian Abridgment Case Digests

If you want to look beyond the leading cases on a subject, the most comprehensive

research tool is Carswell’s Canadian Abridgment Case Digests. This is a multi-volume

publication that collects case digests, or summaries of cases, from Canadian courts

and administrative tribunals and organizes them by subject area. Each digest provides

a brief summary of how a legal issue was decided in a particular case, together with a

summary of all necessary background facts and the reasons for the decision. Each

digest covers only a single legal issue. If a case deals with several legal issues, there is

a separate digest for each issue.

case digests

summaries of how legal

issues were decided

in particular cases

Copyright © 2020 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.