Legal Research

Statutes and Regulations

Lailla Pavicevic
BCTA 150
What is a Statute?
 What is a statute?
 Review an example – Highway Traffic Act
or Criminal Code
How are Statutes Created?
 Initially published in the Canada Gazette or
the Ontario Gazette

 Federal government
 Figure 3.1 on page 3:5

 Provincial legislature
 Figure 5.1 on page 5-Intro:3

CIF ➔ coming into force

Division of Powers
 Where does the government authority to
create legislation come from?

 Constitution Act, 1867

 S. 91 – federal powers
 S. 92 – provincial powers
Division of Powers
 Intra vires

 Ultra vires

 Doctrine of Paramountcy
Citations
 How do we refer to statutes?

 First reference to a statute MUST contain the

full citation
 Easy to find – at the BEGINNING OF THE
STATUTE
 Citation may be done in the body of the
document or in a footnote
Citations
 Every reference to a statute must be:
 In italics

 First letters capitalized

 criminal code 

 Criminal Code ☺
Elements of a Citation
 Example:

Wage Earner Protection Program Act, SC

2005, c 47, s 2 [page 3:16]
 Name
 Volume
 Chapter
 Section
Elements of a Citation
 SC – statutes of Canada

 RSC – revised statutes of Canada [1985]

 SO – statutes of Ontario

 RSO – revised statutes of Ontario [1990]

Statutory Interpretation
 What is statutory interpretation?

 How do we read a statute?

 How do we apply it to our client’s situation?

Statutory Interpretation
 References to multiple provisions

 See Figure 1 [not in textbook]

Statutory Interpretation
 Breaking down the elements of the
provision

 What do you have to prove to win?

 See Figure 2 [not in textbook]

Finding Statutes
 Statutes are available on:
 Government websites
 Canlii.org
 Westlaw
 QuickLaw

 QuickLaw will be covered later in the course

Finding Statutes
 Official copies – Government websites!
 Bears the seal of the Crown
 Seepage 3:39 for different sources
 Generally not requested in court

 Mostcurrent version is on government

websites
Statutes on Government
Websites
 Federal
 Justice laws
 Do Task 3.3 on page 3:16

 Provincial
 E-laws
 Do Task ON.5 on page 5-ON:11
Statutes on Canlii and
Westlaw
 Canlii.org procedure

 Search for the name of the statute in the

middle search bar
OR
 Select Canada or Ontario ➔ Consolidated
Statutes ➔ First letter of the name of the
statute ➔ Scroll down to the statute
Statutes on Canlii and
Westlaw
 Westlaw procedure
 Search ‘login Humber library’
 Select ‘Humber Libraries’
 Search Westlaw
 Select LawSource Westlaw
 Login using your Humber login
 You MUST enter through Humber library
Statutes on Canlii and
Westlaw
 Westlaw procedure
 Begin typing the name of the statute in the
search field
OR
 Statutes and Regulations ➔ Federal or
Ontario ➔ Statutes ➔ first letter of the
name of the statute➔ scroll down to your
statute ➔ use Table of Contents to get to
your section
Finding Statutes
 Point in time reference

 May need a prior version of the section if

the action arose some time ago and the
law was changed in the meantime
Regulations
 Explain or elaborate on statutory
provisions
 Made under the authority of the enabling
statute
 Example – Courts of Justice Act Regs
Regulation Citations
 Federal

 SOR – Statutory Orders and Regulations

 SOR/93-392

 CRC – Consolidated Regulations of

Canada [1978]
Regulation Citations
 Provincial

 O Reg – Ontario Regulation

O Reg 341/94

 RRO – Revised Regulations of Ontario [1990]

Regulations
 Locate regulations on:
 Government websites
 Canlii.org
 Westlaw
Regulations on Government
Websites
 Federal
 Justice laws
 Do Task 4.8 on page 4:8

 Provincial
 E-laws
 Do Task ON.20 on page 5-ON:37
Regulations on Canlii and
Westlaw
 Canlii.org procedure

 Locate the enabling statute ➔ select

Regulations
Regulations on Canlii and
Westlaw
 Westlaw procedure
 Statutes and Regulations ➔ Federal or
Ontario ➔ Regulations ➔ select first letter of
the enabling statute ➔ select the statute
Noting Up
 Making sure the provision is current

 Seeing how judges have interpreted the

section
Noting Up
 Basic noting up procedure in Canlii

 Enter name of the legislation in the third

search bar from the top ➔ enter the
desired section in the “Any section” field ➔
click on Cases ➔ narrow your results on the
left side of the screen and organize the
search results on the right side
Noting Up
 Basic noting up procedure in Westlaw
 Locate the desired section
 Select “Citing References” toward the
upper left
 Select Cases and Decisions
 Narrow down your search on the left
 Organize your search results under “Sort by”
toward the middle of the screen