Constitutional law is the most fundamental law in a country’s legal system. The constitutional law of Canada includes the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982 and the Canada Act 1982. This guide primarily covers Canadian constitutional law, but some reference is provided for the United States and other jurisdictions.
Canada
Primary sources
Statutes
- Canada Act 1982 (UK), c. 11
- Constitution Act 1867
- Constitution Act 1982
- includes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Other sources:
- Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED), v. 4A, Title 30: Constitutional Law
- Also available on Westlaw Canada
- Quicklaw
- Source Directory > Legislation
- Westlaw Canada
- CANLII
- Justice Canada
- Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED), v. 4A, Title 30: Constitutional Law
Case Law
- The Canadian Abridgement , 3rd ed., v. 26: Constitutional Law
- Also available online on Westlaw Canada
- Browse the index of these case law reporters:
- Canadian Rights Reporter, 2d series
- Charter of Rights Decisions
- Use Annotated Acts to find cases; e.g.:
- Edward L. Greenspan, John B. Laskin and Melanie D. Dunn., The Canadian Charter of Rights Annotated (Aurora, Ont.: Canada Law Book, 1982).
- This six volume looseleaf set, updated annually, provides citations to cases on the various sections of the Charter.
- Edward L. Greenspan, John B. Laskin and Melanie D. Dunn., The Canadian Charter of Rights Annotated (Aurora, Ont.: Canada Law Book, 1982).
- Use Keywords to search for cases on these databases:
- Quicklaw
- Source Directory > Canada > Topical Collection of Case Law and Commentary > Constitutional Law Cases, group source (CONQ)
- Westlaw Canada
- Quicklaw
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources include treatises (books) and articles. These sources not only interpret the law, but also provide citations to relevant primary and secondary sources.
Books
- The Constitutional Law Group.Canadian Constitutional Law. 4th ed.(Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2010).KF 4482 C36 2010 (On reserve)
- Beaudoin, Gerald A. and Mendes, Errol. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 4th ed. (Markham, ON: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2005). KF 4483 C5 C31982
- Funstun, Bernard W. and Meehan, Eugene. Canada’s Constitutional Law in a Nutshell. 3rd ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 2003). KF 4482 F85 2003
- Funstun, Bernard W. and Meehan, Eugene, eds. Canadian Constitutional Documents Consolidated. 2nd ed. (Toronto: Thomson Carswell, c2007) KF 4481 A2 C33 2007
- Hogg, Peter W. Constitutional law of Canada, 5th ed. supplemented. (Toronto: Thomson Carswell, c2007). KF 4482 H642 2007 (on reserve)
- Monahan, Patrick J. Constitutional Law. 3rd ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006). KF 4482 M65 2006 (on reserve)
- Russell, Peter H. The Court and the Constitution: Leading Cases (Toronto: Emond Montgomery Publications, 2008) KF 4482 C675 2008
- Sharpe, Robert J. and Roach, Kent. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 4th ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2009). KF 4483 C519 S42 2009
Journals & Other Articles
- Browse subject heading in the Index to Canadian Legal Literature
- available in the library in print (REF KF 8 C35) or online on Quicklaw and Westlaw Canada
- Browse the table of contents of these journals:
- Constitutional Forum
- National Journal of Constitutional Law
- Review of Constitutional Studies
- Supreme Court Law Review
Web Links
- Constitutional Law of Canada
- A website created and maintained by Prof. Joseph E. Magnet from University of Ottawa.
- http://jurist.law.utoronto.ca/issues.htm
JURIST Canada >> Canadian Legal news >> Constitutional Issues - Constitution Acts 1867-1982.
- From the Department of Justice website; this site provides links to all of the Constitutional statutes, including the Charter of Rights.
- Canada Industrial Labour Relations Board
- Centre for Constitutional Studies – Out of the University of Alberta, the Centre was created for the study of constitutional matters both nationally and internationally. Look at their research links for links into further research both nationally and internationally.
United States
Research Guides
- To point you in the right direction, a research guide is always a good place to start, especially for US Constitutional law, where there is a wealth of information.
Books
- Rotunda, Ronald D and Nowak, John E. Treatise on Constitutional Law: substance and procedure. 4th ed. ([St. Paul, Minn.]: Thomson West, 2007). KF 4550 R63 2007
Journals
- Supreme Court Review
- University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law
- Look for other U.S. Constitutional articles on e-resources in Index to Legal Periodicals, Legal Trac, and HeinonLine.
Other Jurisdictions
Web Links
- Constitution Finder
- maintained by the University of Richmond. Access to the Constitutions of over 200 nations
- Political Database of the Americas
- maintained by Georgetown University. Access to the Constitutions of all of the nations in the O.A.S., as well as a bibliographical list of constitutional materials.
- Constitutions of the World Online
- this database has many of the constitutions of the various nations of the world online, including many historical constitutions and their amendments. It is on Osgoode law school’s eresources page.
- Hein Online World Constitutions Illustrated: Contemporary an Historical Documents & Resources
- This database includes the texts of the curent (and in some cases older) constitutions of most of the world's nations. Also included are selected journal articles, books, and external resources.
Journals
- Constitutional Reform: the quarterly review PER C76495
- Journal of Constitutional Law in Eastern and Central Europe PER J2628
Blogs
- The Court
- Created by Osgoode Hall Law School. This blog discusses the role of the Supreme Court of Canada, and its role in Canadian politics and society.
- University of Chicago School of Law Faculty Blog
- Members of the University of Chicago’s School of Law Faculty have created this blog to discuss issues of great legal importance. Among the many areas of law discussed in this blog is constitutional law.
- American Constitution Society for Law and Policy Blog
- This group, founded in 2001, runs a blog on various constitutional law topics. Mostly American, but there are some blogs on international constitutional topics. Their organization includes law professors, lawyers, judges, law students and activists.
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law Bog
- This blog, updated regularly by members of the University of Toronto’s faculty of law, provides commentary on many legal topics, among them Constitutional law.
- Bouck’s law blog
- created by former Judge John C. Bouck of the British Columbia Supreme Ciourt, this blog deals with a variety of legal topics, including Constitutional law and Criminal law.
- Constitutional Law Prof blog
- Created by distinguished law professors in the U.S., this blog deals with all matters of constitutional law. Although it deals mostly with American constitutional law, it does include topics from other jurisdictions when they are of interest.
Compiled by Daniel Perlin, Reference Librarian
Last updated on June 2nd, 2010