This guide is prepared to help readers do legal research on Canadian criminal law. Note that in Canada criminal law is governed by federal law, most often the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, unlike the situation in the United States where criminal law is often a matter of state, not federal law. The focus of this guide is Canadian, although some foreign countries as well as international sources are mentioned at the end.
Canada
Primary Sources
Statutes and Regulations
Case law
Secondary Sources
Books
Articles & Other Documents
Internet Resources
United States
Other Countries:
International:
The major criminal statutes are:
Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46
Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002, c. 1
To browse a more complete list of statutes and regulations on criminal law:
- Use Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) (Toronto : Carswell, 1973-) Call number DIG A242: Title 39, Criminal Procedure; Title 39.1, Criminal Law-Offences; Title 39.2, Criminal Law-Defences. The CED is also electronically available through WestlaweCarswell. Under each title, the CED has included tables of statutes and regulations.
- Use Martin’s Related Criminal Statutes (Toronto : Canada Law Book, 2006), call number: KF 9219 C3 M32 (on reserve)
- Other Internet resources such as CanLII, Justice Canada Web site can also be used to search federal statutes and regulations, and use E-laws for Ontario provincial statutes and regulations
Some reporters of Canadian criminal cases are:
Criminal reports. Toronto : Carswell, 1946- REP-CAN D32 C868
Canadian Criminal Cases. Toronto : Canada Law Book, 1898- REP-CAN D32 C16
Motor Vehicle Reports. Toronto : Carswell, 1979- REP-CAN D84 M67
Weekly Criminal Bulletin. Toronto : Canada Law Book, 1976- DIG C68 Summaries of caselaw only.
Canadian Sentencing Digest . Toronto : Carswell, 1985- KF 9685 A6 N23 Summaries only.
and regional reporters such as the Supreme Court Reports, Dominion Law Reports, Ontario Reports also contain criminal cases
Annotated versions of the Criminal code also provide case citations to locate relevant cases citing a particular part of the code. Here are a few good examples:
Martin’s Annual Criminal Code. Toronto : Canada Law Book, [1955]- Published annually since 1955. Also available on the internet from Canada Law Book as Martin’s Archival Criminal Code. KF 9219 C3 M3
Snow’s Annotated Criminal Code. Toronto : Carswell, 1980- KF 9219 C3 S6 1980
The ... annotated Tremeear's criminal code Toronto : Carswell, c1989- Published annually. KF 9219 C3 T7 1964 CODE
Crankshaw's criminal code of Canada. Toronto : Carswell, 1993- 7 v. (loose-leaf) This multi-volume loose-leaf service is updated. Good when doing historical research on the code. Available online on eCarswell.
Online Databases of Criminal law
Quicklaw/LexisNexis—criminal topical databases include caselaw, legislation and some commentary; search “criminal law” in the source directory for more sources.
eCarswell—Criminal Law Source Includes caselaw, legislation and commentary. Includes Carswell publications such as Criminal reports, Motor Vehicle Reports, Tremeear’s, Crankshaw’s and Canadian Sentencing Digest
Criminal Spectrum—A database by Canada Law Book which includes caselaw, legislation and commentary. Includes Canada Law Book publications such as Canadian Criminal Cases, Martin’s Criminal Code, the Criminal Law Quarterly, Canadian Criminal Procedure, 6th by R.E. Salhaney and McWilliams’ Canadian Criminal Evidence, 4th ed.
Some leading Canadian textbooks on criminal law are as follows:
Delisle, Ron and Don Stuart. Learning Canadian Criminal Procedure. 8th ed. Toronto: Carswell, 2005. KF 9619 D395 2005
Gibson, John L. and Henry Waldcock. Criminal Law : Evidence, Practice and Procedure. Toronto : Carswell, 1988-[looseleaf] KF 9215 G522 1988
Mewett, Alan and Morris Manning. Criminal Law. 3d ed. Toronto: Butterworth, 1994. KF 9219 M48 1994
Roach, Kent. Criminal Law. 3d ed. Toronto :Irwin Law, 2004. KF 9220 ZA2 R63 2004
Roach, Kent et al. Criminal Law and Procedure : Cases and Materials. 9th ed. Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2004. KF 9218 F7 2004
Stuart, Don. Canadian Criminal Law: A Treatise. 4th ed. Toronto: Carswell, 2001. KF 9220 ZA2 S84 2001
Stuart, Don and Ron Delisle. Learning Canadian Criminal Law. 10th ed. ( Toronto: Carswell, 2006), Call Number: KF 9219 A2 L42 2006
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest has 3 Criminal law titles including Criminal Law – Defences, Criminal law – Offences and Criminal Procedure.
To search other books on criminal law:
- Search York Library Catalogue use "Criminal law - Canada" and "Criminal procedure - Canada."
- Search Worldcat: Use similar keywords in either subject or title field to retrieve a wider range of books. Books found through WorldCat may not be available at York libraries. They may be obtained through Interlibrary Loans service.
- Selected bibliography on Criminal law: available through Queen’s University Law Library website.
- Articles & Other Documents
Some leading Canadian criminal law journals are as follows:
Canadian criminal law review. Toronto : Carswell, 1996- PER C16987
Canadian journal of criminology and criminal justice. Ottawa : Canadian Criminal Justice Association, 1978- Before 2003 known as Canadian journal of criminology. PER C1733 PER C1734
Criminal law quarterly. Agincourt, Ont. : Canada Law Book, 1958- PER C88
Gold, Alan D. Annual review of criminal law. Toronto : Carswell, 1982- PER AN786
Article Indexes:
The main index for finding articles on Canadian criminal law is the Index To Canadian Legal Literature. This is available on eCarswell, as well as the ICLL database in Quicklaw. All of the above mentioned journals are indexed here.
To find papers which have been given at continuing legal education seminars, the QL database CLSI is helpful.
Legaltrac also indexes some Canadian journals and would pick up articles about Canada in US journals.
Duhaime’s Criminal Law Centre: an excellent site for Canadian criminal law. Part I contains criminal law articles; part II deals with Federal criminal law (including the Criminal Code); and Part III provides provincial legislation and other resources.
Criminal Justice Links annotated - Canada: the World Criminal Justice Library Network’s mission is to develop specific ways of sharing services and criminal justice information on a global scale. This website lists specifically Canadian criminal justice links.
Jurist Criminal Law Page: links to criminal resources covering mainly US materials.
Wex at Cornell: a good overview of US criminal law at Wex, a collaboratively-created, public-access law dictionary and encyclopedia sponsored and hosted by the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School .
Lexis (Password required)
LexisNexis>>Legal>>Area of Law – By topic>> Criminal
Westlaw (Password Required)
WestlaweCarswell>>Topical Materials by Area of Practice>>Criminal Justice
Buffalo Criminal Law Center Criminal Law Resources on the Internet: links to penal codes around the world, including all the states of the US.
The World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems: provided by U.S. Department of Justice. This source includes country reports on criminal systems worldwide. Each report was submitted to the Department of Justice by experts on the subject.
Worldlii’s Criminal law by county: WorldLII>>Categories>>Subjects>>Criminal Law>>By Country
LLRX: International Criminal Law: a selective resources guide, by Marylin J. Raisch and Gail Partin: Provides a guide to basic research materials, in both print and electronic formats, and also includes a section specifically on crimes against humanity and human rights issues.
Duke Law International Criminal Law Guide: excellent guide to to international criminal law by the library at Duke University.
The American Society of International Law (ASIL) Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Provides information on the major electronic sources for researching international and transnational crime, with links to tribunals, organizations, and agencies. Chapter VI (A) is devoted to war crimes and human rights violations.
Compiled by Diane Rooke , Reference Librarian
Last updated on July 31, 2007