Understanding and Finding Judicial Decisions PDF

Understanding and Finding Judicial Decisions PLG 155(1) September 24, 2024 Review From Last Week How do we craft a proper McGill Guide citation for the following statutes and regulations? Tax Rebate Discounting Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. T-3) Guardianship of Veterans’ Property Regulations (C.R.C., c. 15...

Understanding and Finding Judicial Decisions PLG 155(1) September 24, 2024 Review From Last Week How do we craft a proper McGill Guide citation for the following statutes and regulations? Tax Rebate Discounting Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. T-3) Guardianship of Veterans’ Property Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1579) Dairy Products Marketing Regulations (SOR/94-466) Land Titles Repeal Act (S.C. 1993, c. 41) Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 31 Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30 O. Reg. 426/06: SMART METERS: COST RECOVERY Review From Last Week Court of Appeal jurisdiction 6 (1) An appeal lies to the Court of Appeal from, (a) an order of the Divisional Court, on a question that is not a question of fact alone, with leave of the Court of Appeal as provided in the rules of court; (b) a final order of a judge of the Superior Court of Justice, except, (i) an order referred to in clause 19 (1) (a) or (a.1), or (ii) an order from which an appeal lies to the Divisional Court under another Act; (c) a certificate of assessment of costs issued in a proceeding in the Court of Appeal, on an issue in respect of which an objection was served under the rules of court; (d) an order made under section 137.1. Today’s Agenda Part I: Case Brief Assignment Part II: Reading and understanding a judicial decision Part III: Citing a judicial decision Part IV: Locating and updating a judicial decision online *Reminder: Statutes and Regulations Assignment due tonight by 11:59 pm* Today’s Objectives By the end of today’s class, you will be able to: Understand the parts of a judicial decision and how it is written Apply McGill Guide citation rules for case law Locate case law online ‘Note up’ a case to see how it has  PART I: CASE BRIEFING ASSIGNMEN  Case Briefing Assignment You can find the instructions for your Case Briefing Assignment in the “Assignment Instructions” tab of Blackboard This assignment is due by October 8, 2024 at 11:59 pm Please submit it through the “Assignment Submission” tab of Blackboard  PART II: READING A JUDICIAL DECISION What is a Judicial Decision? A judicial decision or a “case” is: The written record of a legal proceeding (trial, appeal, motion, or hearing) Created by the decision maker (judge, adjudicator, master, or justice of the peace) A summary of the most important The Court System – Stare Decisis Recall that there is a hierarchy of courts in Canada The principle of stare decisis establishes that decisions of higher courts bind decisions of lower courts (vertical stare decisis) This principle also establishes that previous decisions made by a court should guide that court’s future decision-making (horizontal stare decisis) The Court System – Stare Decisis Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada bind all lower courts in Canada Decisions of provincial/territorial courts of appeal bind all lower courts within that province Example: decisions of the Ontario Court of Appeal are binding on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Ontario Court of Justice Decisions of the Ontario Court of Appeal are not binding on British Columbia courts, but they are persuasive Terminology Appellate court = a court that hears appeals Leave to appeal = seeking permission to appeal a decision Appeal allowed = the appellate court has disagreed with the lower court Appeal dismissed = the appellate court has agreed with the lower court Case was followed = a court applied a previous case (or precedent) Case was distinguished = a court did not apply a previous case due to different facts or issues at play Case overruled = a court determined that a previous case Terminology Majority opinion = the decision of a majority of judges (which will be binding on lower courts) Concurring opinion = a decision of one or more judges agreeing with the majority’s conclusion, but for different reasons Dissenting opinion = a decision of one or more judges disagreeing with the majority opinion Leading case = a case that establishes the law in a specific area and has been routinely followed by other courts Obiter dicta = comments made by judges that are The Basic Parts of a Case Headnote (if provided) Purpose Facts Issues Rule/Law Reasons Ratio decidendi (the reason for deciding a case) Decision The Basic Parts of a Case - A headnote is an editor’s explanation (or summary) of the case Headnote and it appears before the actual decision begins Elements of a headnote: “Catch lines” (e.g., “Malicious prosecution and false imprisonment—Defences—Lawful authority—Arrest by private citizen”) Summary of the facts, issues, and ratio of the case List of the primary and secondary sources cited in the case (e.g., other cases, statutes, regulations, and textbooks) *You should not rely solely on headnotes - they are not part of the actual The Basic Parts of a Case - Purpose If there is a reference to a purpose, it will appear right at the start of the decision The purpose will explain why a case is before the court Examples: “This is a motion for…” “This appeal relates to…” “Person X is suing Person Y for…” “This case involves…” The Basic Parts of a Case – Facts The facts section will outline all facts that led to the case coming before the court Sometimes the facts section is very long (especially in trial level decisions) In appeal decisions, the facts section is often shortened  The Basic Parts of a Case – Issue(s) After laying out the facts, the court will identify the legal issue(s) Issues are often presented in the form of a question The court needs to resolve these questions to reach a decision Examples: “Was there a breach of the appellant’s rights under section 8 of the Charter?” “Did the defendant commit battery on the plaintiff?” “Is the plaintiff entitled to damages?”  The Basic Parts of a Case – Law or Rule After the legal issues have been presented, the court must identify the applicable law (or the rule(s) it must apply) Depending on the issues, the law or rule can be expressed in statutes, regulations, bylaws, and/or other cases If the law in a particular area is not settled, the court could discuss different lines of authority These would be cases that share similar facts and issues, but were decided differently If there are competing lines of authority, the judge must express which line he/she is following before beginning to apply the law or rule  The Basic Parts of a Case – Reasons After identifying the law, the court will begin to apply the law to the facts of the case The process of applying the law and reaching conclusions makes up the court’s reasons for decision The reasons can be very long and detailed depending on the complexity of the issue(s) If the decision is an appeal, there might be concurring or dissenting reasons written by other judges Remember that concurring or dissenting opinions are not the law These opinions can help you understand the case, but they are not part of the majority opinion which is binding The Basic Parts of a Case – Ratio Decidendi Ratio decidendi is a Latin phrase meaning “the reason for deciding” The ratio of a case is best understood as the principle of law that the case establishes The ratio is the part of the decision that is binding on lower courts Your textbook states that the ratio is a statement combining: (1) The principle of law on which the decision-maker bases his or her decision; and (2) The application of the principle to the facts of the particular case The Basic Parts of a Case – At the end of the case, the court will reach its Decision conclusion The court will clearly state what it has decided The order being made at the end of the case is referred to as the disposition Examples: “Appeal dismissed” “Motion granted” “Judgment in favour of the plaintiff” Demonstration Supreme Court of Canada case: Canada (Prime Minister) v Khadr, 2010 SCC 3 (link here) What is a Case Brief? A case brief is a way of summarizing the main parts of the decision so that it is easily readable The brief should be just that – brief It is not a long-winded summary of the case There are different ways of formatting a case brief, but the most important parts are the facts, issues, law, reasons, ratio, and decision You are asked to brief 2 cases in your case brief assignment and you will be marked (in part) on how concisely you can summarize the decisions Case Brief Activity Please form a small group and work together to brief the following case: Omotayo v Royal Bank of Canada, 2024 HRTO 1275 (link here) Facts? Issue(s)? Rule(s)? Reasons? Ratio? Disposition? PART III: CITING A JUDICIAL DECISION How Cases are Published Almost all cases are now published online in some way (either on a court website, CanLII, or database like Lexis+) Only some cases end up being published (or reported) in a print case law reporter Examples of law reporters: Supreme Court Reports contain only decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada Ontario Reports contain decisions of the Ontario courts Dominion Law Reports contain decisions from all over Canada Canadian Criminal Cases contain cases relating to the specific field of criminal law [see Appendix C of your McGill Guide for the comprehensive list Neutral Case Citations Example: R v Manning, 2013 SCC 1 The neutral citation is assigned by the court that made the decision, not created by the publisher of a case reporter A neutral citation consists of four elements: Style of cause (case name), Year of the decision Abbreviation of the name of the court or tribunal that made the decision Chronological number indicating the decision’s place in the sequence of cases decided in that year Example – Civil Case (Neutral Citation) Martinez v Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, 2024 ONSC 2723. style of cause neutral citation Example – Criminal Case (Neutral Citation) R v Mathieu, 2008 SCC 21 style of cause neutral citation (R in criminal cases means Rex (The King)) CanLII Case Citations If a neutral citation is not available, the McGill Guide tells you to provide the CanLII citation When a case has a neutral citation, its CanLII citation will be based on that neutral citation, with (CanLII) appearing in brackets at the end of the citation (i.e. 2004 ABCA 38 (CanLII)) When there is no neutral citation, the CanLII citation will contain the year of the decision, followed by “CanLII”, a number, and an abbreviation in brackets of the court or tribunal that decided the case (i.e. 2002 CanLII 3562 (QC CA)) Example – Civil Case (CanLII Citation) level of court (added in because it is not clear from the CanLII citation) Murdoch v Murdoch, 1973 CanLII 193 (SCC). style of cause CanLII citation Example – Criminal Case (CanLII Citation) level of court (added in because it is not clear from the CanLII citation) Regina v Oakes, 1983 CanLII 1850 (ONCA). style of cause CanLII citation (R in criminal cases means Rex (The No Neutral or CanLII Citation If there is no neutral citation and no CanLII citation, the McGill Guide tells you to provide two citations to an online database or case reporter Example: style of cause Westlaw citation (database) Borowski v Canada (AG), 1989 CarswellSask 241, 1 SCR 342 (SCC). Supreme Court Reports the court level has been added because it was not clear reporter citation from either the Westlaw or SCR citation Components of a Case Citation – Style of Cause This is the name of the case The parties are separated by the letter “v”, meaning “against”, in civil cases In criminal cases, R means Rex (The King) Sometimes you will see an abbreviated (shortened) style of cause Components of a Case Citation – Jurisdiction and If you do not have a neutral citation and the Court jurisdiction and court information is not obvious from your CanLII or other citations, you must provide it The jurisdiction and court information is written in at the very end of your case citation in round brackets Example: Fucella v Ricker (1982), 35 OR (2d) 423 at 426 (H Ct J). See Appendix A of your McGill Guide for the complete list of jurisdiction abbreviations and Appendix B for court abbreviations  Components of a Case Citation – Pinpoint When you are referring to a particular passage or point in a case, you will need to provide a pinpoint reference This will come at the end of your citation (but written in before the jurisdiction and court information if that is added) Example: R v Marakah, 2017 SCC 59 at para 3. R v Big M Drug Mart, 1985 CanLII 69 at para 67 (SCC). Order of Citations 1. When the case you are citing has a neutral citation, that is all you need to provide: Example: R v Marakah, 2017 SCC 59. 2. When the case you are citing does not have a neutral citation, you should provide the CanLII citation: Example: Rodriguez v British Columbia (Attorney General), 1993 CanLII 75 (SCC). 3. When the case you are citing does not have a neutral citation or a CanLII citation, provide two parallel citations Knowledge Check R v Hills, 2023 SCC 2. R v Edwards Books and Art Ltd., 1986 CanLII 12 (SCC). 1. Which one is the neutral citation? 2. What is the style of cause? 3. Why is (SCC) added in brackets?  PART IV: FINDING AND UPDATING A JUDICIAL Updating Cases Once you have found helpful cases, it is very important to update them This means two things: (1) Seeing if the case has been appealed to a higher court; and (2) Seeing how the case has been treated by subsequent courts (has it been consistently applied, distinguished, or overruled?) This updating process is referred to as ‘noting-up’ a case Finding Cases Online – CanLII Demo Click here to access CanLII Find R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd., 1985 CanLII 69 (SCC) Browse decisions of the Ontario Small Claims Court Keyword search Thank you for listening!