Kwantlen University College

Subject Guides

LAW

Statutes - Federal

Statutes - Provincial and Municipal

All Federal Statutes

Quicklaw
Federal Statutes and Regulations - this database from the Department of Justice is searchable by title and subject. Also contains case Law.
Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - statutes and regulations from jurisdictions all across Canada.
LEGISinfo - an essential research tool for tracking legislation currently before Parliament.
How a Federal Bill Becomes Law - brief step-by-step guide

Specific Federal Statutes

Criminal Code
Youth Criminal Justice Act
Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Provincial Statutes

QPLegalEze - the most current source of BC statutes and regulations
Quicklaw
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia - includes statutes and regulations (though not as up-to-date as in QPLegalEze). Also includes bills, debates (Hansard), votes & proceedings.
Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - statutes and regulations from jurisdictions all across Canada.

Municipal Bylaws

Bylaws of BC Municipalities

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Case Law - Canada

Case Law - BC

All Jurisdictions

Quicklaw
Dominion Law Reports Plus (D.L.R.) - Full-text court decisions from all levels across Canada. On-campus access at Surrey and Richmond campus computers only. Print version available at Langley, Richmond and Surrey libraries.
Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - Case law from jurisdictions all across Canada.
Federal Statutes and Regulations - this Department of Justice site includes some case law.

Specific Courts

Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada (LexUM) - searchable database of S.C.C. decisions
Federal Court of Canada - Searchable full text Federal Court decisions from 1993 onward.

British Columbia Provincial Court - The site contains Provincial Court Judgements from December 1999 forward along with a list of the Judiciary, Rules of Court.
British Columbia Superior Courts - BC Court of Appeal and and BC Supreme Court decisions in full text from August 1, 1996 forward.
Unreported Decisions Index - over 19,000 court and tribunal decisions from 1881 to the present held by the BC Courthouse Library.
BC Human Rights Tribunal

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Journal & Article Indexes

Legal Research Guides

KUC Library subscribes to a variety of journals both in print and online. If you're not sure if a journal is scholarly (often called "academic" or "peer-reviewed"), look at our checklist.

Major Law Article Indexes

BC Legal Literature Index - BC Courthouse Library's searchable index of several local legal magazines and other sources, some dating back to 1943.
Current Law Journal Content - searchable index of over 1200 law reviews, since 2005
HeinOnline - many U.S. legal journals in the Political Science Journals Plus collection
Index to Canadian Legal Literature - part of Quicklaw collection; to find it, select 'Source Directory' > then 'Legal Indices & Tables' > and then 'Index to Canadian Legal Literature - Journals and Texts'

Other Law Article Indexes

TIP for Advanced Researchers: Set up an alert for your favourite journal and you'll be notified when the latest issue is available electronically. For help with this, see our Search Alert guide.

"Best" Guide to Canadian Legal Research - an excellent place to find out about research skills with a BC focus.
Introduction to Legal Research and Citation - from the University of Toronto.
Legal Research Materials - from Queen's University.
Research Guides - from the Osgoode Hall Law Library.

Legal Dictionaries

A Dictionary of Law - from the Oxford Reference Online collection.
Duhaime's Legal Dictionary - legal definitions in plain language.
International Law Dictionary - includes links to international associations, governments and world wide issues. [no longer updated, but you can link to the archived edition]

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Legal Websites - Canada

Legal Websites - International

Access to Justice Network (ACJNet) - legal information by subject, legal libraries, on-line publications, legislation and more.
BC Courthouse Library Society - includes access to a wide variety of resources, including the Popular Case Name table (provides proper name and citations)
Canadian Legal Web - searchable database of links maintained by the University of Montreal's LexUM project.
Compendium of Law and Judges - introduction to the law and judiciary in BC
Continuing Legal Education Society of BC - links to law libraries, lawyers lists, courts, tribunals.
Electronic Law Library - links to legislation (including BC municipal bylaws), courts and other Canadian legal resources.
Osgoode Hall Law Library - links arranged by area of law and region
Supreme Court of Canada - Information about the court. For a list of its decisions, see Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada (LexUM)
University of British Columbia Faculty of Law - Program information and valuable links to more law resources.

Global Law Sources
Library of Congress Research Guides : Foreign and International Law - for specific countries
United Nations - including the full text to the UN Declaration of Human Rights amongst many of their other treaties and international declarations.
World Legal Information Institute

Citation Styles

Case citations are used to locate legal cases. They indicate where judges' decisions have been reported or published. The citations provide you with the name of the case (called the style of cause), the year of the decision, the volume number, reporter abbreviation, series number (if applicable), page number and court level. A typical case citation looks like this:

R.v. Morgentaler (1988), 37 C.C.C. (3d) 449 (S.C.C.)

Many case reports and other legal documents are now reproduced on the internet. Citing these electronic documents correctly is very important. For a good explanation and examples of how to cite both print and electronic versions of cases, statutes and other legal documents, please see the book called Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (also called "the McGill Guide"), REF KE 259 C35 2006 located at L,R,S.

Kwantlen Library has prepared a brief (4-page) summary of the McGill Guide to help you get started.

You can also consult these other brief online guides.

Guide to Legal Research: Citation (University of Toronto)
Legal Research Materials: Legal Citation (Queen's University - covers cases found in print and on the web)

For information on other citation styles such as the APA and MLA, please see our Citation Styles webpage.

Suggest a Purchase

Chris Burns

	Statutes - Federal	Statutes - Provincial and Municipal
	All Federal Statutes Quicklaw Federal Statutes and Regulations - this database from the Department of Justice is searchable by title and subject. Also contains case Law. Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - statutes and regulations from jurisdictions all across Canada. LEGISinfo - an essential research tool for tracking legislation currently before Parliament. How a Federal Bill Becomes Law - brief step-by-step guide Specific Federal Statutes Criminal Code Youth Criminal Justice Act Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.	Provincial Statutes QPLegalEze - the most current source of BC statutes and regulations Quicklaw Legislative Assembly of British Columbia - includes statutes and regulations (though not as up-to-date as in QPLegalEze). Also includes bills, debates (Hansard), votes & proceedings. Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - statutes and regulations from jurisdictions all across Canada. Municipal Bylaws Bylaws of BC Municipalities
TOP
	Case Law - Canada	Case Law - BC
	All Jurisdictions Quicklaw Dominion Law Reports Plus (D.L.R.) - Full-text court decisions from all levels across Canada. On-campus access at Surrey and Richmond campus computers only. Print version available at Langley, Richmond and Surrey libraries. Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - Case law from jurisdictions all across Canada. Federal Statutes and Regulations - this Department of Justice site includes some case law. Specific Courts Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada (LexUM) - searchable database of S.C.C. decisions Federal Court of Canada - Searchable full text Federal Court decisions from 1993 onward.	British Columbia Provincial Court - The site contains Provincial Court Judgements from December 1999 forward along with a list of the Judiciary, Rules of Court. British Columbia Superior Courts - BC Court of Appeal and and BC Supreme Court decisions in full text from August 1, 1996 forward. Unreported Decisions Index - over 19,000 court and tribunal decisions from 1881 to the present held by the BC Courthouse Library. BC Human Rights Tribunal
TOP
	Journal & Article Indexes	Legal Research Guides
	KUC Library subscribes to a variety of journals both in print and online. If you're not sure if a journal is scholarly (often called "academic" or "peer-reviewed"), look at our checklist. Major Law Article Indexes BC Legal Literature Index - BC Courthouse Library's searchable index of several local legal magazines and other sources, some dating back to 1943. Current Law Journal Content - searchable index of over 1200 law reviews, since 2005 HeinOnline - many U.S. legal journals in the Political Science Journals Plus collection Index to Canadian Legal Literature - part of Quicklaw collection; to find it, select 'Source Directory' > then 'Legal Indices & Tables' > and then 'Index to Canadian Legal Literature - Journals and Texts' Other Law Article Indexes Academic Search Premier Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) Complete Canadian Newsstand Canadian Periodical Index (CPI.Q) Criminal Justice Abstracts Criminal Justice Periodicals Index Criminology: A SAGE Full Text Collection Social Sciences Index Sociological Abstracts TIP for Advanced Researchers: Set up an alert for your favourite journal and you'll be notified when the latest issue is available electronically. For help with this, see our Search Alert guide.	"Best" Guide to Canadian Legal Research - an excellent place to find out about research skills with a BC focus. Introduction to Legal Research and Citation - from the University of Toronto. Legal Research Materials - from Queen's University. Research Guides - from the Osgoode Hall Law Library. Legal Dictionaries A Dictionary of Law - from the Oxford Reference Online collection. Duhaime's Legal Dictionary - legal definitions in plain language. International Law Dictionary - includes links to international associations, governments and world wide issues. [no longer updated, but you can link to the archived edition]
TOP
	Legal Websites - Canada	Legal Websites - International
	Access to Justice Network (ACJNet) - legal information by subject, legal libraries, on-line publications, legislation and more. BC Courthouse Library Society - includes access to a wide variety of resources, including the Popular Case Name table (provides proper name and citations) Canadian Legal Web - searchable database of links maintained by the University of Montreal's LexUM project. Compendium of Law and Judges - introduction to the law and judiciary in BC Continuing Legal Education Society of BC - links to law libraries, lawyers lists, courts, tribunals. Electronic Law Library - links to legislation (including BC municipal bylaws), courts and other Canadian legal resources. Osgoode Hall Law Library - links arranged by area of law and region Supreme Court of Canada - Information about the court. For a list of its decisions, see Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada (LexUM) University of British Columbia Faculty of Law - Program information and valuable links to more law resources.	Global Law Sources Library of Congress Research Guides : Foreign and International Law - for specific countries United Nations - including the full text to the UN Declaration of Human Rights amongst many of their other treaties and international declarations. World Legal Information Institute
Citation Styles
Case citations are used to locate legal cases. They indicate where judges' decisions have been reported or published. The citations provide you with the name of the case (called the style of cause), the year of the decision, the volume number, reporter abbreviation, series number (if applicable), page number and court level. A typical case citation looks like this: R.v. Morgentaler (1988), 37 C.C.C. (3d) 449 (S.C.C.) Many case reports and other legal documents are now reproduced on the internet. Citing these electronic documents correctly is very important. For a good explanation and examples of how to cite both print and electronic versions of cases, statutes and other legal documents, please see the book called Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (also called "the McGill Guide"), REF KE 259 C35 2006 located at L,R,S. Kwantlen Library has prepared a brief (4-page) summary of the McGill Guide to help you get started. You can also consult these other brief online guides. Guide to Legal Research: Citation (University of Toronto) Legal Research Materials: Legal Citation (Queen's University - covers cases found in print and on the web) For information on other citation styles such as the APA and MLA, please see our Citation Styles webpage.