Your research may turn on the meaning of a particular word or phrase in a
statute or contract. There is a specialised body of research tools designed to assist with
finding the meaning of words and phrases. The first tools to check are those covering
judicial interpretation of words and phrases. If you do not find what you need there,
consult legal dictionaries, and general English dictionaries. Words and phrases
publications are also helpful as a starting point when your research involves unfamiliar
terms, or terms too narrow to be indexed in other sources.
The following sources can be consulted for words and phrases research:
 | The most comprehensive Canadian words and phrases collection is Carswell's Words
& Phrases. It provides an excerpt from the
cited case. It is updated using soft bound supplemental volumes, and Canadian Current Law. |
|
| Sanagan's Encyclopedia of Words and Phrases, Legal Maxims contains good coverage
of Canadian case law, and provides the excerpt from the cited case. |
|
| Quicklaw,
in its commentary collection, offers a new resource called Canadian
Legal Words & Phrases. Users can search edited listings of
judicially considered words and phrases and view an excerpt from the
cited case. |
|
| Full text keyword searches can be done in
electronic databases of case law. However, this method is only helpful if the terms are
quite distinctive. |
|
| Indices to case reporters will usually include a table of words and phrases judicially
considered. |
|
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| If you are working in a specialised area of law, there may be a words and phrases
publication unique to that topic. For example, Jolin, Canada Tax Words, Phrases and
Rules deals exclusively with words and phases relevant to taxation. Indices for topical reporters usually include a table of
words and phrases judicially considered. |
|
| The leading English publication is the multi-volume Words & Phrases Legally
Defined. It is updated by paper supplements. A second multi-volume English publication
that is a good source of Commonwealth cases is Stroud's Judicial Dictionary of Words
and Phrases. The indices to the All England
Reports and to the Law Reports also contain words and phrases
listings. |
|
| The leading American publication is the multi-volume West's Words & Phrases.
Be sure to consult the supplement in the pocket at the back of each volume, as the entries
in the main volumes are quite old. |
|
| Legal dictionaries, such as the Canadian Legal Dictionary, Black's Law Dictionary, and Jowitt's
Dictionary of English Law, may prove helpful if the usual words and phrases sources do
not. Some legal dictionaries, such as the
Legal
Dictionary on Findlaw, are now available through the Internet. |
|
| Some subject classifications in the
Canadian
Abridgment Case Digests, such as
Contracts - Interpretation, Statutes - Interpretation, provide access to cases
interpreting particular terms. Statutory interpretation texts and contracts texts often
contain a section on interpretation, or the index will direct you to a discussion of the
interpretation of a particular term. |
|
| The federal
Interpretation Act
and the provincial Interpretation Act contain
extensive definitions that may be applicable. Similarly, the definition sections of
relevant statutes and regulations should be reviewed. |
|
| The courts will often look to the ordinary meaning of a word to assist with its
interpretation. If the word is not a legal term of art, check its meaning in a few good
dictionaries. |
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