Once you’ve mastered the art of deciphering case citations, you’ll find that what initially looked like a jumble of letters and numbers to you is actually very useful legal shorthand. A case citation, properly formatted, can tell you the names of the parties, year, jurisdiction, court level and where to find the decision, all at a glance.
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Here’s a quick primer (or refresher) on the components and format of the three basic types of Canadian case citations you’ll likely encounter in your legal research:
“Traditional” Citations
Traditional citations refer to cases as they appear in printed law reports.
- Names of the parties (aka “style of cause”) separated by “v”, all in italics
- Year of decision in brackets (Why are some brackets round and some square? Read our post, Square or Round?)
- Volume number of the reporter
- Abbreviation of the reporter name (“DLR” stands for Dominion Law Reports. Look to our post “Know What You’re Looking For”
for tips on how to decipher abbreviations.) - The series number of the reporter (Some law reports have different series to break up long runs of volumes.)
- Page number on which the case begins
- Abbreviation for the jurisdiction and court
Online Citations
Online citations identify decisions found in free or fee-based online sources, such as CanLII, Lexis Advance Quicklaw and Westlaw Next Canada.
- Names of the parties separated by “v”, all in italics
- Year of the decision
- Online database/publisher
- Decision number
- Abbreviation for the jurisdiction and court
Neutral Citations
Starting in about 2000, Canadian courts began to adopt neutral citations. Since this type of citation is assigned to a decision by the issuing court, rather than a legal publisher, it provides no direction to a particular case reporter or online database. It is neutral and easy to understand, consisting only of the party names and three basic pieces of information – the year, court or tribunal and decision number. Neutral citations should be used where available. Adding a parallel traditional or online citation is optional.
- Names of the parties separated by “v”, all in italics
- Year of the decision (without brackets)
- Court or tribunal abbreviation
- Sequential decision number assigned by the court or tribunal (This citation identifies the 1557th decision made by the Ontario Superior Court in 2019.)
- Pinpoint reference to paragraph number, if needed
For more in-depth guidance on proper legal citation, consult the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka the “McGill Guide”). It sets out standards for formatting citations to a range of legal materials from cases to blog posts. You’ll also find handy lists of jurisdiction, court/tribunal, case law reporter and journal abbreviations in the guide’s appendices.
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