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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 on 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
    • Go to Westlaw US via the International tab and start typing the title
  • In print on the reference desk
• The Dictionary of Environmental Law and Science
  • In print in the reference section
• Miller Thomson's Environmental Law Dictionary
  • In print in the reference section

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
  • 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:
  • Environmental Law
  • Agriculture
  • Fish and Wildlife
• 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:
  • Environment
  • Agriculture
  • Wildlife, Livestock and Pets
• 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 public - Droit de l'environnement

Books

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:

• An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy in Canada, 3rd ed by Paul Muldoon et al. / eBook only (2nd ed available in print).
• Annotated Climate Change Statutes and Regulations in Canada [2 vols] by Florence Dagicour et al. / LAW-RESERVE KF3783 .A6 A56 2010.
• Blakes' Canadian Law of Endangered Species [2 vols] by Janice H Walton / LAW-RESERVE KF5640 .A6 W35 2007.
• The Canadian Brownfields Manual by Ahab Abdel-Aziz & Nathalie Chalifour / LAW-RESERVE KF3946 .A6 A23 2004 and eBook.
• Canadian Environmental Law Guide, edited by Paul C Wilson / LAW-RESERVE KF3775 .ZA2 C37 1996 and eBook (note: eBook is up to date).
• Encyclopedia of Global Warming & Climate Change, edited by S George Philander / eBook only.
• Environmental Law, 5th ed by Jamie Benidickson / LAW-STACKS KF3775 .ZA2 B36 2019 and eBook.
• Environmental Law and Policy, 4th ed by William A Tilleman et al. / LAW-STACKS KF3775 .ZA2 E58 2020 and eBook.
• Environmental Regulation in Canada by Maureen Carter-Whitney / LAW-RESERVE KF3775 .ZA2 C38 2008 and eBook via Lexis+ (law students only) and the campus-wide version of Quicklaw (available to all students).
• The Law of Climate Change in Canada by Dennis Mahony / LAW-STACKS KF3783 .A6 M345 2014 and eBook.
• The Prosecution and Defence of Environmental Offences [2 vols] by Stanley D Berger / LAW-RESERVE KF3775 .ZA2 B475 1994.
• Toxic Real Estate Manual by Frederick F Coburn & Garth Manning / LAW-RESERVE KF3775 .ZA2 C63 1994.

Journal Articles & Databases

If you already know the journal title, year, volume number and page number for an article, you may be able to access it electronically by searching for the journal's title in the UNB e-journals database. If we have the journal electronically or in print, it will be listed. 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.

Key Legal Databases:

• Index to Canadian Legal Literature
  • Available via Lexis+ (non-law UNB/STU use the campus-wide version of Quicklaw)
  • Available via Westlaw Edge (law students only)
• Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text
• Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective
• LegalTrac
• Lexis+ (non-law students use the campus-wide version of Quicklaw)
  • Click Law Reviews & Journals
• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
  • Click Articles and Newsletters
• HeinOnline
  • Click Law Journal Library

Non-Law Databases:

Legislation

Key Resources

The following databases and websites provide access to federal and provincial legislation.

• Lexis+ (law students only)
  • Non-law students: use the campus-wide version of Quicklaw
• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
• CanLII  
• Justice Laws   (federal legislation)
• LEGISinfo  
  • 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
  • Includes current legislation, rules of court, the Royal Gazette, the status of bills, and more

Statutes

The following statutes may be helpful. To search for others, use the databases mentioned above.

• Antarctic Environmental Protection Act, SC 2003, c 20 (and its regulations).
• Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, SC 2002, c 18.
• Canada National Parks Act, SC 2000, c 32.
• Canada Water Act, RSC 1985, c C-11.
• Canada Wildlife Act, RSC 1985, c W-9.
• Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, SC 1999, c 33  (and its regulations).
• Clean Environment Act, RSNB 1973, c C-6.
• Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, SC 2018, c 12, s 186.
• Impact Assessment Act, SC 2019, c 28, s 1.
• Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29.

Case Law

Key Resources

The following databases and websites provide access to federal and provincial case law.

• Lexis+ (law students only)
  • Non-law students: use the campus-wide version of Quicklaw
• Westlaw Edge (law students only)
• CanLII  
• New Brunswick Court Index  
• New Brunswick Courts  
• New Brunswick Court Docket List   (NB Courts)
• New Brunswick Court Proceedings Transcript Fees & Request Form   (Justice and Public Safety)
• Canadian Court Records/Dockets  (guide created by the Paul Martin Law Library, University of Windsor)

Cases 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
  • Available via Westlaw Edge (law students only) and in print in the reference section (available to all students)
  • Useful titles include:
    • Environmental Law (vols 31 and 31A Reissue in print)
• Canada Digest
  • Available via Lexis+ and the campus-wide version of Quicklaw (available to all students)
  • Click Case Summaries > All Canada Digests for a list of topics
  • Useful titles include:
    • Canada Environmental Law Digest

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' Google Custom 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.

The following government sites might be useful:

• Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency 
• Canadian Environmental Protection Act Registry
• Canadian Impact Assessment Registry 
• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Environment and Natural Resources: Services and Information
• Federal Environmental Assessment Index: Public Registry
• Environment and Local Government   (New Brunswick)

Websites & Blogs

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, an open directory of Canadian blogging lawyers, law librarians, marketers, IT professionals, and paralegals. There are several blogs listed in the energy and resources category that may be helpful.