Noting up cases is a tedious but necessary part of legal research. It is essential to
find out whether the cases you are relying on are still good law, and to ascertain how
they have been interpreted in subsequent decisions. Fortunately, computerized tools have
taken much of the drudgery out of this task.
Because of
the differences in coverage, accuracy, and treatment codes between citators, it is
advisable to update an important case using two different case citators. In addition to
the main citators discussed, you can use the cases judicially considered tables in various
case reporters. However, these tables are usually less comprehensive than sources such as QuickCite,
KeyCite and
Canadian Case Citations.
There
are two comprehensive electronic citators for Canadian case law: QuickCite on
Quicklaw, and KeyCiteCanada on
WestlaweCARSWELL.
Reflex on CanLII is not as comprehensive and
does not assign treatment codes. However, it will be a good starting point for
updating recent case law.
While using Quicklaw, you can access QuickCite through the
Search-General tab by clicking on the "Note up a case" option in the drop-down
box at the top left. You can also use the Noteup with QuickCite link at the
top left of the screen while viewing a case, or click on the QuickCite status
icon at the top left of the case.
While using WestlaweCARSWELL, KeyCite is accessible
from the Find menu on the home page, from the KeyCite link which appears in the
left frame while viewing a case in the right frame, or by clicking on a KeyCite
status flag. Note that case history and negative citing references are separated
from other citing references in the KeyCite display. They can be printed
together by choosing both options from the print menu. One major advantage of
KeyCite is the ability to refine citator results with a keyword search.
CanLII offers the ability to note up cases, using its
Reflex database. Click on the Reflex link near the top of the case and then
click on the Noteup link to see a list of cases citing the case you were
viewing. Treatment codes are not provided. However, you can search within the
list of citing cases using the search box at the top of the list. This permits
the citator results to be refined by keywords, jurisdiction, court level and
date. The highlight tool locates where the cited case is referred to when
viewing the citing cases.
You should be familiar with the scope of coverage of any service you use for noting up
cases, and be aware of the different features offered by each
citator.
| KeyCite
coverage |
QuickCite
coverage |
| KeyCite commenced coverage of judicial consideration of
appellate unreported cases in 1987, and all superior court cases in 1992. |
Originally QuickCite
did not cover unreported decisions dated prior to
1993. More originally, decisions are being added that
pre-date 1993. |
| For cases before 1987,
KeyCite may not include cases that merely refer to the
cited case. |
QuickCite includes cases that merely refer to the cited case. |
| KeyCite has excellent historical coverage, starting in
1867. |
Originally QuickCite's coverage
did not start until 1940, except for
decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada and Privy Council.
More recently, decisions are being added that pre-date 1940. |
| KeyCite adds citing cases
more quickly than QuickCite, but they do not have a treatment code assigned
when first added. |
QuickCite includes judicial
consideration by courts of board and tribunal decisions released after 1994. |
| KeyCite features |
QuickCite features |
| KeyCite does not include
locus page references. |
QuickCite shows the page or
paragraph reference for the cited case, referred to as a locus page
reference. |
| Cases in LawSource display a
KeyCite status flag, indicating whether the case is still good law and
whether it has history or has been considered. |
Cases in Quicklaw display a
QuickCite status symbol indicating whether the case is still good law and
whether it has history or has been considered. |
| Citing cases listed in a
KeyCite report also display a KeyCite status flag. |
Citing cases listed in a
QuickCite report also display a QuickCite status symbol. |
| Direct history usually
contains a description for each case listed. |
Direct history for older
cases usually does
not contain a description for each case listed, but direct history
description is available for newer cases. |
| KeyCite is designed to
quickly tell you whether a case is good law, through status flags,
organising results by treatment code, and grouping case history with
negative treatment. Results can also be customized in several ways including
by court level, date, jurisdiction, and type of consideration. |
QuickCite results first show
a summary of treatments for the case. The citing cases are shown by
default in reverse chronological order. They can be easily sorted and
filtered in various ways, including by jurisdiction, by court, by level of
court, by date, and by negative or positive treatment. |
| KeyCite allows refinement of
results by conducting a keyword search within the KeyCite results. |
QuickCite does not permit
refinement by keyword. |
| KeyCite includes references
to secondary sources that have considered the case. |
QuickCite results do not
include secondary source references. |
QuickCite has a broader range of treatment codes than
KeyCite, and assigns
different treatments where the cited case has been dealt with differently in separate
reasons for judgment in the same case. The treatment codes assigned in various citators
can be quite different for the same case. It is not always wise to rely on the
treatment code in determining whether you should review the citing case.
The status flags in KeyCite should not be blindly relied
on without reviewing the KeyCite results in more detail. The KeyCite status
flags indicate that the case has been reversed or not followed within the same
jurisdiction (red flag), the case has some negative history or treatment (yellow
flag), the case has direct history (a green H), or the case has been the subject
of some consideration (green C).
The treatment codes used by KeyCite and QuickCite are set out below:
| KeyCite |
| Followed |
Principle of law in cited case adopted or decider's
reasoning applied. |
| Distinguished |
Cited case inapplicable because of difference in facts
or law. |
| Not followed/overruled |
Cited case wrongly decided. |
| Considered |
Some consideration given to cited case. |
| Referred to |
Cited case is referred to. |
| QuickCite |
| Followed |
The citing case in a majority or plurality opinion applies a principle of law from the
cited case. The judge expressly relies upon the cited case as a precedent on which to base
a decision. |
| Followed in minority |
The citing case, in an opinion other than a majority, plurality, or dissent applies a
principle of law from the cited case. |
| Explained |
The citing case adds to, expands upon or interprets the cited case. The cited case is
not decisive but it is given some kind of consideration. |
| Dissenting |
The cited case is cited in a dissenting opinion. |
| Distinguished |
The cited case is held to be inapplicable because of a difference in fact or law. |
| Questioned |
The citing case criticises the conclusion or reasoning of the cited case, without
refusing to follow it. Alternatively, legislation in force at the time the cited case was
decided has been amended to the extent that the cited case might have been decided
differently under the amended legislation. |
| Not followed |
The citing case overrules or refuses to apply the cited case for some reason other
than it was distinguishable. |
| Mentioned |
The case is cited with no explicit treatment. The citing case provides no more
information about the cited case than what was available in the cited case itself. |
The primary Canadian print tool for noting up cases is the Canadian Case Citations
portion of the Canadian Abridgment. To use
this tool, look up the case in the following Canadian Case Citations
volumes:
| main volume |
 |
| annual supplement |
|
|
| quarterly cumulative supplement |
|
|
| monthly issues of Canadian Case Citations |
The
most current cases from a particular court can often be located by going
directly to the court website. However, to search across Canadian case law for
current cases, then search
 | in the All Canadian
Judgments database on Quicklaw |
| by using the Cases
search template in LawSource on WestlaweCARSWELL |
| on CanLII.
|
See Search Syntax for Commercial Legal Databases
and Search Syntax for Free Internet
Legal Sites for links to various free sites, and instructions on search
syntax.
To ensure your research is completely current, use these databases to do a final note
up of your cases. You should also conduct a subject search in these databases using key
words.
Be aware of how your documents are ranked.
| The default ranking method on
Quicklaw is
relevancy ranking, and it can easily be changed in your results list to rank by
jurisdiction, court, or date. |
| The default ranking method on WestlaweCARSWELL
is by court level and then by reverse chronological order (unless you use
natural language searching, which is ranked by relevancy). The ranking method
can be changed in the Preferences settings but then functions as the default
for all searches. |
| The default ranking method on CanLII is relevance,
and it can easily be changed in your results list to rank by date or
citation frequency. Searches
using the Advanced Search template can be refined by jurisdiction and court
level. |
There are several Canadian publications containing case summaries and other information
to help you keep your legal knowledge current. Some of these publications are
electronic, and utilize Internet links to the full text of the documents summarised in the
newsletter.
| The Continuing Legal Education Society
of British Columbia publishes digests of British Columbia cases weekly through an
Internet-based service. This is a subscription service. The CLE
website also includes commentary on recent decisions and announcements of
important legislation. |
|
Summaries
of recent BC Court of
Appeal judgments are available on the BC Superior Courts website. |
| Eugene Meehan of Lang Michener publishes the
Supreme Court of Canada L@wLetter, providing summaries of recent
decisions of the court. |
| RSS feeds are available for new cases added to
CanLII case
collections, and for BC legislation through the
BC Legislation Portal. |
| The BC Courthouse Library Society maintains a current
awareness service on its website, called
What's New, available
through RSS feed. |
| LawSource provides to its subscribers recent case
summaries from the Abridgment Case Digests in several subject areas. Users
can also set up alerts in LawSource to update their searches or KeyCite
results. |
| Quicklaw publishes NetLetters in several subject areas.
LawNet on Quicklaw contains recent significant cases. Users can also set up
alerts in Quicklaw to update their searches. |
| Canada Law Book publishes
caseAlert, providing e-mail summaries of recent cases in several subject
areas to subscribers. |
| Lawyer's Weekly is primarily a print publication, but excerpts are available free of
charge from the
Lawyer's
Weekly website and can be subscribed to through an
RSS feed. |
| A comprehensive collection of current awareness
sources is being prepared by Ted Tjaden. The
initial list
was posted on SLAW. |
Queen's University Faculty of Law, Legal Research Materials, Cases
Considered.
