Law for Resource and Environmental Management

Canadian law is made of legislation and case law. Both are primary sources for Canadian law.

• Legislation is the collection of rules passed by a legislative body (federal government, provincial governments). We refer to these as Acts or Statutes. There is also subordinate legislation such as regulations, rules, and orders, that are created by authority of an Act.
• Case law refers to reported decisions of the courts that interpret and apply the legal principles and legislation to particular facts and contexts. We can cite those earlier decisions as precedent (a guide) for future decisions.

Acts or statutes passed by governmental bodies that set out the law in a given jurisdiction. Statutes are passed by the federal government and in each provincial jurisdiction each year. Statutes passed may be new statutes or amendments of earlier statutes. The law, then, is the original act and any subsequent amendments to that act. Periodically, statutes and their amendments are gathered together and reissued as "Revised Statutes." Statutes are designated as statutes (S) or revised statutes (R.S.). There is also supporting legislation called "Regulations."

You can locate Canadian statutes online using CanLII or official government websites (e.g., Government of Canada, Nova Scotia), and print versions are available in the Primary Sources Room on the second floor of the library. Statutes for US, UK, and Commonwealth countries are also available in the Primary Sources Room.

You can search the database by statute title, citation, or keywords. When viewing a statute, clicking the "Note Up" tab link will allow you to "note up" the act. Noting up a statute shows you a list of cases and other statutes that cited the act you're viewing. You can also note up a specific section of the act by entering the section number in the designated box. These cases and laws might be helpful to your research.

In common law systems, cases heard before courts set precedent for further judgements and decisions. Reports of cases further our understanding of the law. Statutes cannot be drafted to consider every eventuality in life. For this reason, the courts must apply the law to specific situations and their judgments are reported in case reporters. Not all cases that go to court are reported. What does get reported are cases that further our understanding of the law.

Cases are compiled together based of jurisdiction (e.g., Ontario, Nova Scotia, federal), by court (e.g., Supreme Court, Appeal Court), and by topic (e.g., business law, construction law, tax law). The citation includes the name of the parties, the year of the decision, the reporter information, and the court jurisdiction and level.

You can use a free database like CanLII to locate cases, or professional databases like Lexis+ and Westlaw Edge Canada, which require a password (Dal law students only). The law library also has an extensive print collection of case reporters. Canadian, American, UK, and Commonwealth case reporters are in the Primary Sources Room on the main floor (2nd floor) of the library. Case reporters on international law are shelved in the stacks on the first floor and can be located by call number.