Supreme Court of Canada Decisions

Today’s Tip: Consider how you need a decision to help determine where to get it.

An announcement from the SCC last week inspired this tip:

Major addition to the Supreme Court of Canada decision’s website

The Supreme Court of Canada and Lexum are proud to announce that the Court’s decision website now contains all decisions back to 1907. Moreover, all the PDF versions of decisions up to 2010 are identical to the official version available in the Supreme Court Reports.
This major content addition has been made possible thanks to the support of the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court has been at the forefront of free access to judicial decisions for the past 20 years. Lexum is proud to provide its technology and infrastructure to ensure continuous and efficient availability of Supreme Court of Canada decisions.

The PDF copies, even for the earliest cases, are clean and beautiful. If I were preparing for a hearing and needed a copy of an SCC decision for the authorities, I would use this source.

If I were researching, comparing and contrasting case law, or noting up I would probably use a different source. Supreme Court of Canada decisions are available in many places:

• CanLII
• Hein Online
• LexisNexis Quicklaw
• National Reporter Service from Maritime Law Book
• The Supreme Court’s decision website
• Westlaw Canada
• Your local university, law society, or law firm library collection

I may have missed some sources, but as you can see, you have plenty of options.
Happy Holidays!