Law, Cybercrime Guide Ask Us

Legal Dictionaries / Words & Phrases

Legal dictionaries and words and phrases can help you research the meaning of legal terms and the legal interpretation of legal words and phrases. This can help when you’re trying to interpret a statute for which there is no clear case law or if you’re trying to discern the meaning of a word in a key legal document, such as a contract or a will.

Legal Dictionaries

If you need to know the meaning of a legal word, use a legal dictionary. Legal dictionaries are available online and in print:

• Barron's Canadian Law Dictionary
  • Lexis+ (law students only)
  • Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
  • In print at the reference desk
  • In print in the reference section
• Dictionary of Canadian Law
  • In print on the reference desk
• Black's Law Dictionary (American)
  • Westlaw Edge (law students only; click the International tab)
  • In print on the reference desk

Words and Phrases

Words and phrases differ from dictionaries, as they show what the courts have said about a particular term. A words and phrases source will show how courts in different jurisdictions (federal, provincial, international) have defined this term. Online words and phrases include links to these cases so you can see the definition in context.

There are a few words and phrases to choose from:

• Words & Phrases Judicially Defined in Canadian Courts and Tribunals (aka: Words & Phrases)
  • Westlaw Edge (law students only)
  • In print in the reference section
• Canadian Legal Words & Phrases
  • Lexis+ (law students only)
  • Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
• Sanagan's Encyclopedia of Words and Phrases
  • In print on the reference desk

Legal Encyclopedias

Legal encyclopedias contain narrative summaries of the law supported by references to case law and statutes. They are often the best place to start to gain a general understanding of the law in a particular area.

There are two main legal encyclopedias in law: the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) and Halsbury's Laws of Canada (Halsbury's). CED covers federal, western, and Ontario jurisdictions, and Halsbury's covers all provincial and federal jurisdictions. Both are available in print in the Law Library in the reference section on the first floor.

Another legal encyclopedia is JurisClasseur Quebec, which covers Quebec law and is in French only.

Electronically, CED is available in Westlaw Edge, while Halsbury's and JurisClasseur are available in Lexis+/Lexis Advance Quicklaw.

Canadian Encyclopedic Digest

• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
• In print in the reference section
• Helpful titles include:
  • Internet Law
  • Criminal Law—Offences
• How to start your research with the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (5:58)

Halsbury's Laws of Canada

• Lexis+ (law students only)
• Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
• In print in the reference section
• Helpful titles include:
  • Technology and Internet
  • Criminal Offences and Defences
• Halsbury's Laws of Canada - Lexis Advance Quicklaw (1:45)

JurisClasseur Quebec

• Lexis+ (law students only)
• Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
• Helpful titles include:
  • JCQ Droit pénal - Droit pénal général

Books & eBooks

To search for books at UNB Libraries, use UNB WorldCat. UNB WorldCat contains records of materials held at the Harriet Irving, Science and Forestry, Engineering, Hans W. Klohn, and Law libraries.

Items shown as LAW-RESERVE may be requested at the circulation desk on the first floor of the Law Library. Bring the book's call number with you to the desk. Items shown as LAW-STACKS are on the second floor, and LAW-REF materials are on the first floor in the reference section.

The following books may be useful in your research:

• Artificial Intelligence and the Law: Cybercrime and Criminal Liability by Dennis J. Baker & Paul H. Robinson, eds. LAW-STACKS K5070 .A78 2021.
• Cyber Crime: Law and Practice, 2nd ed, by Dr. Matthew Richardson. LAW-STACKS KF390.5 .C6 R53 2019.
• Cyber Liability and Cyber Insurance in Canada by Dolden Wallace Folick. LAW-STACKS KF1263 .C65 C93 2020.
• Cyber Security: Law and Practice by Dean Armstrong, Dan Hyde & Sam Thomas. LAW-STACKS KF2765 .C93 2017.
• Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law, 2nd ed, by Sara M. Smyth. LAW-STACKS KF390.5 .C6 S69 2015.
• Cybersecurity in Canada: A Guide to Best Practices, Planning and Management, 2nd ed, by Imran Ahmad. LAW-STACKS KF390.5 .C6 A74 2021.
• Financial Crime and Gambling in a Virtual World: A New Frontier in Cybercrime by Clare Chambers-Jones & Henry Hillman. eBook only.
• Industry of Anonymity: Inside the Business of Cybercrime by Jonathan Lusthaus. LAW-STACKS HV6773 .L87 2018.
• New Perspectives on Cybercrime by Tim Owen, Wayne Noble & Faye Christabel Speed. LAW-STACKS HV6773 .N49 2017.
• Principles of Cybercrime, 2nd ed, by Jonathan Clough. LAW-STACKS KF390.5 .C6 C56 2015.
  • 1st ed: LAW-STACKS KF390.5 .C6 C56 2010 and eBook.
• Sookman: Computer, Internet, and Electronic Commerce Law [4 vols] by Barry B. Sookman. LAW-RESERVE KF390.5 .C6 S66 1989 and eBook via Westlaw Edge (law students only).
• Virtual Economies and Financial Crime: Money Laundering in Cyberspace by Clare Chambers-Jones. LAW-STACKS K564 .C6 C415 2012 and eBook.
• Understanding Cybersecurity Law and Digital Privacy: A Common Law Perspective by Melissa Lukings & Arash Habibi Lashkari. LAW-STACKS K564 .C6 L85 2022 and eBook.
• Understanding Cybersecurity Law in Data Sovereignty and Digital Governance: An Overview from a Legal Perspective by Melissa Lukings & Arash Habibi Lashkari. eBook only.

Journal Articles & Databases

The Law Library subscribes to a wide variety of law journals, both online and in print. In addition, UNB Libraries subscribe to several computer science-related journals and databases that might help you locate the information you need.

If you already know the journal title, year, volume number, and page number for an article, search for the journal's title in the Journals & Newspapers database. If we have access to the journal electronically or in print, it will be listed with the format(s) and dates available with links to those available online. You can also look up the journal title in UNB WorldCat.

Keep in mind that it can be best to start with an index rather than a full-text database. An index is essentially a list of articles by topic. Sometimes the article will be available full-text, but often you'll just be given a citation that you can use to track it down somewhere else.

Legal Databases

• Lexis+ (law students only)
  • Click Law Reviews & Journals
• Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
  • Click Law Reviews & Journals
• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
  • Click Articles and Newsletters
• CanLII
  • Click Commentary
• Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN)

Indexes

• Index to Canadian Legal Literature
  • Lexis+ (law students only)
  • Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
  • Westlaw Edge (law students only)

Subject-Specific: Computer Science

Legislation

Key Databases

• Lexis+ (law students only)
• Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
• CanLII
• LEGISinfo (Parliament of Canada)
  • Includes information on federal bills, including status, speeches, links to Hansard debates, full-text versions of bills, and more from 35th Parl, 1st Sess (January 1994) to the current session
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
• New Brunswick Acts and Regulations (NB Attorney General)
• GALLOP Portal
  • Searches electronic government documents from Legislative libraries in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, and Québec
• Justice Laws (federal legislation)
• LEGISinfo (Parliament of Canada)
  • Includes information on federal bills, including status, speeches, links to Hansard debates, full-text versions of bills, and more from 35th Parl, 1st Sess (January 1994) to the current session
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
• New Brunswick Acts and Regulations (NB Attorney General)
  • Includes current legislation, rules of court, the Royal Gazette, the status of bills, and more

Specific Statutes

The following statutes might be helpful. For other statutes not listed, search the databases listed above.

• Access to Information Act, RSC 1985, c A-1.
• Canada Evidence Act, RSC 1985, c C-5.
• Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46.
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, SC 2000, c 5.
• Privacy Act, RSC 1985, c P-21.
• Electronic Transactions Act, RSNB 2011, c 145.
• Evidence Act, RSNB 1973, c E-11.
• Personal Health Information Privacy and Access Act, SNB 2009, c P-7.05.
• Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, SNB 2009, c R-10.6.

Case Law

Databases and Websites

The following databases and websites provide cases and decisions:

• Lexis+ (law students only)
• Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
• CanLII
• New Brunswick Court Index (Justice and Public Safety)
• New Brunswick Courts
• New Brunswick Court Docket List (NB Courts)

Cases Digests

Along with searching the databases above, you should use a case digest to find case law. Case digests index cases by topic, and each topic is broken down into several subtopics. With a case digest, you might find ten, twenty, or hundreds of cases on your topic, saving you hours of research time.

Two important case digests are the Canadian Abridgment Digests and the Canada Digest.

Canadian Abridgment Digests

• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
• In print in the reference section
• Helpful topics include:
  • Information Technology
  • Criminal Law
• How to start your research with the Canadian Abridgment Digests (5:39)
• How to search the Canadian Abridgment Digests (4:33)

Canada Digest

• Lexis+ (law students only)
  • Click Case Summaries > All Canada Digests for a list of topics
• Lexis Advance Quicklaw (available to all students)
  • Click Case Summaries > All Canada Digests for a list of topics
• Helpful topics include:
  • Canada Information Technology Digest
  • Canada Criminal Digest
• Canada Digest – Lexis Advance Quicklaw (2:09)

Government Documents

Government departments and agencies publish a great deal of important law-related information. The Law Library's collection of printed government documents is located on the library's third floor. Use UNB WorldCat to search, or ask a library staff member for help.

The Harriet Irving Library also has government documents, which can be located through UNB WorldCat.

For government documents that are available online, try using UNB Libraries' Government Documents Search.

Note: if you include site:canada.ca (and/or site:gc.ca) and filetype:pdf in a Google search, you will retrieve PDF documents from Government of Canada websites. This is a good way to find government reports, as they are usually in PDF format.

Publications

The following government sites might be useful:

• Canadian Centre for Cyber Security
  • Publications, Reports, and Assessments ("Guidance")
• Cybercrime (Policing, Justice and Emergencies)
• Get Cyber Safe
• International Cyber Policy (Global Affairs Canada)
• RCMP
  • Cybercrime: An Overview of Incidents and Issues in Canada
  • Reports, Research and Publications
• Statistics Canada
  • Digital Economy and Society Statistics
    • Cyber Security and Cybercrime
  • Analysis (Reports)

Hansards/Debates

• House of Commons Debates (Hansard)
• Debates of the Senate (Hansard)
• Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources
  • Historical House and Senate debates from 1867–1996
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Hansards
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Hansards (print)
  • 1931–1979, 1980–1995/1996, 2002/2003–present: third floor, government documents section
  • 1896–1930 (also called Synoptic Reports): Rare Books Reading Room

Journals/Votes and Proceedings

• House of Commons Journals
• Journals of the Senate
• Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources
  • Historical House and Senate journals from 1867–1997
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Journals
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Journals (via UNB Libraries)
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Journals (print)
  • 1935–present (with some gaps): third floor, government documents section
  • 1894–1934: Rare Books Reading Room

Committee Reports

• LegisInfo
• Library of Parliament
• House of Commons Committee Reports
• Senate Committee Reports
• Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources
  • Historical House (1877–1993) and Senate (1887–1993) committee documents
• Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Committee Reports
• UNB Libraries
  • Search the catalogue for committee reports in print

Websites & Blogs

The following websites may be helpful for your research:

• Canada: Cybersecurity Laws and Regulations (ICLG.com)
• Canadian Internet Registration Authority
• Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity (UNB)
• Cybersecurity – The Legal Landscape in Canada (McMillan LLP)
• Field Effect: Resources

There are many blogs maintained by lawyers and law firms, and you can find many of them at lawblogs.ca, an open directory of Canadian blogging lawyers, law librarians, marketers, IT professionals, and paralegals. There are several blogs listed in the information & privacy, internet, technology, and criminal categories that might be helpful.