Paul Martin Law Library October 2015 Legal Citations The Purpose Citations are used to document where you can find sources used in a report Find them in secondary sources to track down primary sources of law legislation cases ID: 525372
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Vicki Jay Leung, Reference LibrarianPaul Martin Law LibraryOctober 2015
Legal Citations Slide2
The Purpose Citations are used to document where you can find sources used in a report:
Find them in secondary sources, to track down primary sources of law (legislation, cases)
To record which sources you used in your report for academic papers or legal proceedingsSlide3
Learning ObjectivesIntroduction of the McGill Guide, 8th
edition
How to interpret a citation to statutes you find in secondary sources
How to create a case citation that you can use to document primary sources you relied on
N.B. There are many other types of documents not covered in this session, please refer to the McGill Guide or come to the Reference Office for helpSlide4
Pop QuestionWhy do we have legal citations?Slide5
AnswersSo readers of your work can find the primary & secondary sources of laws that you are referring to
Helps with your credibility
Balance between providing useful information & saving space on the page
Can provide additional information related to a case or piece of legislation that you are referring toSlide6
Deciphering legislation citations
Note the difference between revised & annual statutes
Note the difference between federal & Ontario regulations
Amount of information included in a citation depends on the purpose of including it
(ex.
p
inpointing to sections, or referencing amending statutes after substantive statutes)
pp. E-23-E-44Slide7
Revised Statute CitationParts of a Revised Statute Citation:
Short title of statute
Revision, jurisdiction & year
Alpha-numeric chapter
Pin-point to a specific section (if referring to)Slide8
Sessional or Annual Statute Citation
Parts of an annual statute:
Short title of statute (includes year)
Statutes, jurisdiction & year
Chapter number (sometimes alphanumeric in provinces outside of Ontario)Slide9
Regulation CitationParts of a Regulation:
Title (optional)
Abbreviated regulation designation
Year-Regulation number
Pinpoint to sectionSlide10
Building a Case CitationParts of case citation
Neutral citation
Parallel citations (official, semi-official, unofficial sources)
How much information you want to include is dependent on the purpose in your essay (ex. judge’s name, case history etc.)
pp. E-49-E-66Slide11
Parts of a citation
style
of
cause
judgment year
Volume
abbreviated
case
reporter
(series number if applicable)
page number
jurisdiction & level of court (not evident by reporter name) Slide12
Neutral Citations
Parts of a neutral citation:
Style of cause
Judgment year
Court abbreviation
ordinal number
Can only be created by the court by which it originates
Created in 1999 in accordance to a Federation of Law Societies’ Special Task Force recommendation
Courts across Canada slowly adopted this practice in the early 2000’s (common practice today)
Slide13
Parallel CitationsProviding 2 citations for the same case
To help readers increase their chance of finding the case
Traditionally print publications have priority over electronic
Order of preference:
Neutral citation>official print>semi-official print>
unofficial print & electronic sources
How to find a case in other reporters:
Quicklaw
WestlawNext
Canada
CanLii
(Canadian Legal Information Institute)
Canadian Abridgement (Canadian Case Citations)Slide14
Legal Abbreviation DictionariesTo help you decipher legal abbreviation to a reporter or statutes set, recommend using:
McGill Guide Appendix C (reporters only)
Bieber’s
Dictionary
Legal Abbreviations
Cardiff Index to Legal AbbreviationsSlide15
Pop QuestionThere are many other different legal documents that you may need to cite that were not covered in this 1hour session.
How would you go about citing these sources in your academic paper/factum/memorandum?Slide16
AnswerWhen in doubt refer to the McGill Guide
For further clarification ask your professor or friendly reference librarian
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Vicki’s Contact InformationEmail: vicki.jayleung@uwindsor.ca
Phone:
(519) 253-3000
ext.
4266
Reference
Hours:
Monday to Thursday 10:30 am to 5:00 pm
Fridays 10:30 am to 12 noon
(Student Reference Associates available in evenings and weekends)
lawreference@uwindsor.ca
(519) 253-3000 ext. 2975
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!!