Legal Dictionaries / Words & Phrases
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
- Dictionary of Canadian Law
- Black's Law Dictionary (American)
Words & 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 (Canadian Abridgment)
- Canadian Legal Words & Phrases
- Sanagan’s Encyclopedia of Words and Phrases
Legal Encyclopedias
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.
Electronically, CED is available in WestlawNext Canada (law students only), while Halsbury's is available in Lexis+ (law students only; non-law students can access the campus-wide version of Advance Quicklaw via UNB Libraries)
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest
Halsbury's Laws of Canada
Books & eBooks
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:
Journal Articles & Databases
Journal Articles & Databases
The Law Library subscribes to a wide variety of law journals, both online and in print.
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.
Full-text Databases
Indexes
Legislation & Case Law
Legislation & Case Law
Key Databases & Websites
The following databases and websites provide access to legislation and/or case law.
Statutes
Case Digests
Along with searching the databases mentioned above, you should use a case digest to find case law. A case digest service indexes 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 research topic, saving you hours of time.
Two important case digests are the Canadian Abridgment Digests and the Canada Digest.
Canadian Abridgment Digests
Canada Digest
International Treaties & Documents
International Treaties & Documents
A treaty is a formal agreement between two or more countries. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, pact, convention, protocol, or covenant.
Treaties can be bilateral, multilateral, or plurilateral.
- Bilateral: treaties between Canada and one other country
- Multilateral: treaties between three or more countries
- Plurilateral: treaties between one State and a group of States
Canadian Treaties and Documents
United Nations Documents
International, Foreign, and U.S. Treaties
Government Documents
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
Government organizations, such as the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Premier's Council on Disabilities , will also have reports and publications available online.
Hansards/Debates
Journals/Votes and Proceedings
Committee Reports
Websites & Blogs
Websites & Blogs
Note: use Google search operators to focus your search, such as the site operator (site:) and the filetype operator (filetype:). For example, including site:gc.ca (or site:canada.ca) and filetype:pdf with your keywords will retrieve PDF documents from Government of Canada websites. This is a good way to find government reports, as they are often in PDF format.
The following websites may be helpful for your research:
There are many blogs maintained by lawyers and law firms, and you can find many of them at lawblogs.ca. There are several blogs listed in the disability and human rights categories that may be helpful.
Last modified on November 3, 2023 09:53
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