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Law, Human Rights Guide

Legal Encyclopedias

Legal encyclopedias contain narrative summaries of the law supported by references to case law and statutes. They are often the best place to start to gain a general understanding of the law in a particular area.

There are two main legal encyclopedias in law: the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) and Halsbury's Laws of Canada (Halsbury's). CED covers federal, western, and Ontario jurisdictions, and Halsbury's covers all provincial and federal jurisdictions. Both are available in print in the Law Library in the reference section on the first floor.

Electronically, CED is available in WestlawNext Canada, while Halsbury's is available in Lexis Advance Quicklaw. 

Canadian:

  • Canadian Encyclopedic Digest
    • In print and electronically, the CED a Human Rights title available (title 82 in vol. 31 in print) (note: the print version is unavailable due to COVID-19 restrictions)
  • Halsbury's Laws of Canada
    • Both in print and electronically, there is a Discrimination and Human Rights title available. The title code for the volume is HDH. (note: the print version is unavailable due to COVID-19 restrictions)

International:

  • Canadian Encyclopedic Digest
    • In print and electronically, the CED has an International Law title (title 87 in vol. 34 in print) with an "International Transactions" section that deals with treaties and conventions. (note: the print version is unavailable due to COVID-19 restrictions)
    • Note: this volume of CED hasn't been updated since 1995, so use with caution.
  • Halsbury's Laws of Canada
    • Both in print and electronically, there is a Public International Law title with a Human Rights section. The title code for the volume is HPI. (note: the print version is unavailable due to COVID-19 restrictions)

Journal Articles

If you already know the journal title, year, volume number and page number for an article, you may be able to access it electronically by searching for the journal's title in the UNB e-journals database. If we have the journal electronically or in print, it will be listed. You can also look up the journal title in UNB WorldCat.

Keep in mind that it can be best to start with an index rather than a full-text journal search. An index is a systematic listing of journal articles by topic. A few key indexes in law are listed below.

Key Resources

Need help tracking down an article in print? Contact a law librarian for assistance.

Books

To search for books at UNB Libraries, use UNB WorldCat, the library's catalogue. UNB WorldCat contains records of materials held at the Harriet Irving, Science and Forestry, Engineering, and Law libraries, as well as the Hans W. Klohn Library at UNB-Saint John.

In UNB WorldCat, items shown as LAW-RESERVE and/or LAW-REF are unavailable during the pandemic. You can request a scan of one chapter/10% of the total page count. Check the table of contents in the item's catalogue record to help narrow down your request.

Items shown as LAW-STACKS can be requested for pick-up or remote delivery. Follow the instructions on our Law Library Services for 2020/21 page. You can also request a scan of one chapter/10% of the total page count. Check the table of contents in the item's catalogue record to help narrow down your request.

Note that older versions of texts on reserve may be available in the stacks and thus can be requested for pick-up or remote delivery.

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The following books may be useful in your research:

Canadian:

International:

Cases & Legislation

Canadian:

Key Resources

The following databases and websites provide access to federal and provincial cases and legislation.


Statutes

 

Cases and Decisions

Along with searching the databases mentioned above, one can use other products to find case law:

  • Canadian Abridgment Digests
    A digest service that indexes cases by subject. This is an extremely useful resource. There are Human Rights volumes in print (vols 50-50B) and electronically in WestlawNext Canada (UNB Law students and faculty only). (note: the print version is unavailable due to COVID-19 restrictions)
  • Canada Digest
    A digest service similar to the Canadian Abridgment. Useful titles include Canada Human Rights Law Digest. It is available electronically through Quicklaw (campus-wide version available to all UNB and STU students and faculty) and Lexis Advance Quicklaw (UNB Law students and faculty only).
  • Case Reporters
    For current cases/decisions, please use electronic databases (i.e.: WestlawNext Canada, Lexis Advance Quicklaw) when available.


International:


Cases and Decisions

  • Canadian Abridgment Digests
    There is an International Law volume in print (vol 60) and electronically in WestlawNextCanada (UNB Law students and faculty only) with an "International Treaties, Conventions, and Agreements" section. (note: the print version is unavailable due to COVID-19 restrictions)
     
  • Canada Digest
    There is a Canada International Law Digest with an "International Human Rights Law section." It is available electronically through Quicklaw (campus-wide version available to all UNB and STU students and faculty) and Lexis Advance Quicklaw (UNB Law students and faculty only).
     
  • European Court of Human Rights
    The European Court of Human Rights is an international court established by the European Convention on Human Rights. Search the HUDOC database for case law.
     
  • Case Reporters
    Law reporters dealing with human rights law are on the second floor; however, much of this content is retrospective. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the print reporters are unavailable, but you can request a scan of a case. For current cases/decisions, please use electronic databases (i.e.: WestlawNext Canada, Lexis Advance Quicklaw) when available.

International Treaties & Documents

A treaty is a formal agreement between two or more countries. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, pact, convention, protocol, or covenant.

Treaties can be bilateral, multilateral, or plurilateral.

  • Bilateral: treaties between Canada and one other country
  • Multilateral: treaties between three or more countries
  • Plurilateral: treaties between one State and a group of States


Canadian Treaties and Documents


United Nations Documents


International, Foreign, and U.S. Treaties

Government Documents

Note: use Google search operators to focus your search, such as the site operator (site:) and the filetype operator (filetype:). For example, including site:gc.ca and filetype:pdf with your keywords will retrieve PDF documents from Government of Canada websites. This is a good way to find government reports, as they are usually in PDF format.

Government departments and agencies publish a great deal of important law-related information. The Law Library's collection of printed government documents is located on the library's third floor. Use UNB WorldCat to search, or ask a library staff member for help. 

The Harriet Irving Library also has government documents, which can be located through UNB WorldCat.

For government documents that are available online, try using UNB Libraries' Google Custom Search.

Government organizations, such as the Canadian Human Rights Commission, will also have reports and publications available online.

 

Websites & Blogs

Note: use Google search operators to focus your search, such as the site operator (site:) and the filetype operator (filetype:). For example, including site:gc.ca and filetype:pdf with your keywords will retrieve PDF documents from Government of Canada websites. This is a good way to find government reports, as they are usually in PDF format.

The following websites may be helpful for your research:

There are many blogs maintained by lawyers and law firms, and you can find many of them at lawblogs.ca. There are several blogs listed in the Human Rights category that may be helpful.

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