Special rules of citation have been developed for citing primary legal resources. Primary legal resources are the products of official bodies with the authority to make law and are divided into two categories:
- legislation (bills, statutes, regulations, and orders-in-council) and
- case law (decisions of courts and tribunals).
This guide adopts the style outlined in the
Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 6th ed., McGill Law Journal/Carswell, 2002 available in the reference area at New Westminster and Coquitlam campus libraries at call number KE 259 C363 2006.
PART I - LEGISLATION
Statutes are published at the end of each parliamentary session. About every twenty years, all of the sessional volumes are pulled together along with all existing statutes, into one complete set of statutes in alphabetical order, called the revised statutes.
The Statutes of British Columbia were last revised in 1996. The majority of acts will thus be cited
R.S.B.C. 1996, for
Revised Statutes of British Columbia 1996.
If a British Columbia statute was passed after 1996 and is in a sessional volume, it is cited as
S.B.C., for
Statutes of British Columbia.
If citing a specific section of an act, add the section number at the end.
Example #1
Treaty Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.461, s.5(1).
Treaty Commission Act, Revised Statutes of British Columbia 1996, chapter 461, section 5, subsection 1, cited to the official printed version.
The government website for the statutes is
The Revised Statutes and Consolidated Regulations of British Columbia. More current versions of BC statutes and regulations are available through
QP LegalEze. If citing a statute to a government web site, put
online: name of the website <URL> at the end of the citation.
Example #2
Emergency Contraceptive Access Act, S.B.C. 2001, c. 11, online: The Revised Statutes and Consolidated Regulations of British Columbia <http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/>.
Emergency Contraceptive Access Act, Statutes of British Columbia 2001, chapter 11, cited to the online version on the B.C. government website.
The statutes of Canada and the provinces are also available on electronic legal services, such as
QuickLaw and
QP LegalEze (BC statutes only). If citing to an electronic service such as these, put
QL or
QPLE in brackets at the end of the citation.
Example #3
Parental Responsibility Act, S.B.C. 2001, c. 45, (QPLE).
Parental Responsibility Act, Statutes of British Columbia 2001, chapter 45, found in QP LegalEze.
Federal Legislation - Statues of Canada
The Statutes of Canada were last revised in 1985. The majority of acts will thus be cited
R.S.C. 1985, for
Revised Statutes of Canada. The chapter number includes the initial letter of the name of the act.
Example #4
Privacy Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-21.
Privacy Act, Revised Statutes of Canada 1985, chapter P-21, cited to the official printed version.
If a federal act was passed after 1985, it is cited as
S.C. for
Statutes of Canada. In this case, chapters are indicated by numbers only, with no initial letters. If citing a section of an act, add the section number at the end.
Example #5
Nunavut Act, S.C. 1993, c. 28, s. 5(2).
Nunavut Act, Statutes of Canada 1993, chapter 28, section 5, subsection 2, cited to a sessional volume of the official printed version.
The government web site of the statutes is
Consolidated Statutes and Regulations of Canada. It is updated to within two months of the current date. If citing a statute to a government web site, put
online: name of the website <URL> at the end of the citation.
Example #6
Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s. 318(1), online: Department of Justice Canada <http://laws.justice.gc.ca>.
Criminal Code, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, chapter C-46, section 318, subsection 1, cited to the online version on the Canadian government website.
Since the
Charter of Rights is not an independent enactment, it is cited as Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982.
Example #7
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 15, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.), 1982, c.11.
This citation is to the official printed version. A citation to the online version would require the same information included above for the Criminal Code. Note the placement of the charter section number (s. 15).
PART II - CASE LAWThe rule for case law is to cite to the printed reporter. This may be followed by a neutral citation to an online source as a parallel citation. If only the neutral citation is available, it may be used alone. Only cite to an electronic service such as
QuickLaw if no neutral citation exists. (See the online handout entitled:
Research Guide to Case Law.)
When citing to a printed law reporter, the traditional form of legal citation requires these elements:
- case name (also known as style of cause) in italics
- year of decision in round brackets followed by a comma
- [or a comma, then the year of publication in square brackets if the year is needed to identify the book]
- volume number
- abbreviated title of the reporter
- series number in brackets, if included
- page
- court abbreviation in brackets, only if not included in the reporter name
Example #8
R. v. Latimer (1995), 126 D.L.R. (4th) 203 (Sask. C.A.).
R. v. Latimer is the case name, 1995 is the year of the decision, volume 126 clearly identifies the exact volume so the year does not need to be in square brackets, D.L.R. for Dominion Law Reports, 4th series, case beginning on page 203, as heard by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal which is abbreviated Sask. C.A.
The S.C.R. (Supreme Court of Canada Reports) use square brackets. Put the comma before the date of the volume. Do not put the (S.C.C.) court abbreviation at the end of the citation, as the name of the court has been included in the reporter name.
Example #9
Vancouver Society of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women v. Minster of National Revenue, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 10.
Vancouver Society of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women v. Minister of National Revenue is the case name, [1999] is the year of publication and needs to be in square brackets because volume 1 does not uniquely identify the book, S.C.R. for Supreme Court Reports, the case beginning on page 10.
A neutral citation permits identification of a case independent of a printed reporter. Courts assign the neutral citation when they render a decision. Starting in 2000, judgments from the courts in electronic form are cited using neutral citation.
Neutral citation is simplified and includes only these elements:
- case name (also known as style of cause) in italics followed by a comma
- year or date of decision without any brackets
- court identifier without periods
- decision or docket number(s)
The court assigns the neutral citation when the decision is rendered, so a very recent case will have only a neutral citation until it is included in a printed reporter. If only the neutral citation is available, it may be used alone.
Example #10
R. v. Coulson, 2003 BCSC 144.
In this recent British Columbia Supreme Court case, R. v. Coulson is the case name, 2003 is the year of decision, BCSC is the court identifier, and 144 is the case number.
The rule is to cite to the printed reporter, followed by the neutral citation as a parallel citation, when both are available.
Example #11
R. v. Latimer, [2001] 1 S.C.R. 3, 2001 SCC 1.
This latest appeal of the Latimer case has a parallel neutral citation, which follows the printed reporter citation.
Only cite to an electronic service such as
QuickLaw if no neutral citation exists. Citation to a case found on
QuickLaw includes these elements:
- case name (also known as style of cause) in italics followed by a comma
- date of decision in square brackets
- QuickLaw database identifier abbreviated with periods
- case number assigned by the electronic service beginning with No.
- court abbreviation in brackets
- QL in brackets
Example #12
Legal Services Society v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner), [2003] B.C.J. No. 1093 (B.C.C.A.) (QL).
This recent British Columbia Court of Appeal case is cited to QuickLaw from the B.C.J. for British Columbia Judgments database.
