Constitutional Law Research Guide
Constitutional law is the most fundamental law in a country’s legal system. The constitutional law of Canada includes the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982 and the Canada Act, 1982. This guide will mostly cover Canadian constitutional law, but the United States and foreign countries are also covered.
Table of Contents
Canada
Primary sources:
Statutes
Case Law
Secondary sources:
Books
Journals & Other Articles
Internet Resources
United States Constitutional Law
Research Guides
Books
Journals
Foreign Constitutional Law
Internet Sources
Journals
Blogs
Here are a few of the primary Constitutional documents
- Canada Act 1982(U.K.) 1982, c. 11
- Constitution Act 1867
- Constitution Act 1982 – includes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Other sources to browse Constitutional statutes include:
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) (Toronto: Carswell Co. 1973-) Call number DIG A242: Volume 4A, Title 30 Constitutional Law. This looseleaf service is also available on Westlaw-eCarswell
To search statues and regulations by keywords:
- Quicklaw>> Source Directory << Legislation
- Westlaw-eCarswell>>Legislation and related materials
Other sites online include CANLII and the Justice Canada websites which will give you access to Constitutional laws
To browse cases on Constitutional Law:
- Use The Canadian Abridgement 3rd ed. Volume 26 Constitutional Law, or look at the Abridgement electronically through Westlaw-eCarswell
- Browse the index of these case law reporters:
Canadian Rights Reporter 2d series
Charter of Rights Decisions
Use Annotated Acts to find cases. For example:
Edward L. Greenspan, John B. Laskin and Melanie D. Dunn., The Canadian Charter of Rights Annotated (Aurora, Ont.: Canada Law Book, 1982). This six volume looseleaf set, updated annually, provides citations to cases on the various sections of the Charter.
Use Keywords to search for cases on these databases:
- Quicklaw>>Source Directory>> Canada >> Topical Collection of Case Law and Commentary >> Constitutional Law Cases, group source (CONQ)
- Westlaw Canada>> cases
- Best Case (this is from Canada Law Book) – You can search for cases by using phrases, name of the parties, keywords etc.
Secondary sources include treatises (books) and articles. These sources not only interpret the law, but also provide citations to relevant primary and secondary sources.
The Constitutional Law Group. Canadian Constitutional Law. 4th ed. (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2010). KF 4482 C36 2010 (On reserve)
Beaudoin, Gerald A. and Mendes, Errol. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 4th ed. (Markham, ON: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2005). KF 4483 C5 C31982
Funstun, Bernard W. and Meehan, Eugene. Canada’s Constitutional Law in a Nutshell. 3rd ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 2003). KF 4482 F85 2003
Funstun, Bernard W. and Meehan, Eugene eds. Canadian Constitutional Documents Consolidated. 2nd ed. (Toronto: Thomson Carswell, c2007) KF 4481 A2 C33 2007
Hogg, Peter W. Constitutional law of Canada, 5th ed. supplemented. (Scarborough, Ont.: Thomson Carswell, c2007). KF 4482 H642 2007 (on reserve)
Monahan, Patrick J. Constitutional Law. 3rd ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006). KF 4482 M65 2006 (on rserve)
Russell, Peter H. The Court and the Constitution: leading cases (Toronto: Emond Montgomery Publications, 2008) KF 4482 C675 2008
Sharpe, Robert J. and Roach, Kent. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 4th ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2009). KF 4483 C519 S42 2009
Browse for journals using Index to Canadian Legal Literature REF KF 8 C35 or online in Westlaw-eCarswell
Browse the table of contents of these journals:
Constitutional Forum PER C76482
National Journal of Constitutional Law PER N213935
Review of Constitutional Studies PER R322
Supreme Court Law Review PER SU761
Constitutional Law of Canada http://www.constitutional-law.net/, is a website created and maintained by Prof. Joseph E. Magnet from University of Ottawa.
http://jurist.law.utoronto.ca/issues.htm
JURIST Canada >> Canadian Legal news >> Constitutional Issues
Constitution Acts 1867-1982. From the Department of Justice website. This site provides links to all of the Constitutional statutes, including the Charter of Rights.
Canada Industrial Labour Relations Board
Centre for Constitutional Studies – Out of the University of Alberta, the Centre was created for the study of constitutional matters both nationally and internationally. Look at their research links for links into further research both nationally and internationally.
United States Constitutional Law
To point you in the right direction, a research guide is always a good place to start, especially for U.S. Constitutional law, where there is a wealth of information
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/conlaw.html, from the University of Chicago Law School.
Constitutional law topical guide – from the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University
Rotunda, Ronald D and Nowak, John E. Treatise on Constitutional Law: substance and procedure. 4th ed. ([St. Paul, Minn.]: Thomson West, 2007). KF 4550 R63 2007
Supreme Court Review PER SU77
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law PER UN733
Look for other U.S. Constitutional articles on e-resources in Index to Legal Periodicals, Legal Trac, and HeinonLine.
Foreign Constitutional Law
Constitution Finder – maintained by the University of Richmond. Access to the Constitutions of over 200 nations
Political Database of the Americas – maintained by Georgetown University. Access to the Constitutions of all of the nations in the O.A.S., as well as a bibliographical list of constitutional materials.
Constitutions of the World Online – from Oceania, this database has many of the constitutions of the various nations of the world online, including many historical constitutions and their amendments. It is on Osgoode law school’s eresources page.
Hein Online World Constitutions Illustrated: Contemporary an Historical Documents & Resources - This database includes the texts of the curent (and in some cases older) constitutions of most of the world's nations. Also included are selected journal articles, books, and external resources.
Constitutional Reform: the quarterly review PER C76495
Journal of Constitutional Law in Eastern and Central Europe PER J2628
The Court – Created by Osgoode Hall Law School. This blog discusses the role of the Supreme Court of Canada, and its role in Canadian politics and society.
University of Chicago School of Law Faculty Blog – Members of the University of Chicago’s School of Law Faculty have created this blog to discuss issues of great legal importance. Among the many areas of law discussed in this blog is constitutional law.
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy Blog – This group, founded in 2001, runs a blog on various constitutional law topics. Mostly American, but there are some blogs on international constitutional topics. Their organization includes law professors, lawyers, judges, law students and activists.
University of Toronto Faculty of Law Bog – This blog, updated regularly by members of the University of Toronto’s faculty of law, provides commentary on many legal topics, among them Constitutional law.
Bouck’s law blog – created by former Judge John C. Bouck of the British Columbia Supreme Ciourt, this blog deals with a variety of legal topics, including Constitutional law and Criminal law.
Constitutional Law Prof blog – Created by distinguished law professors in the U.S., this blog deals with all matters of constitutional law. Although it deals mostly with American constitutional law, it does include topics from other jurisdictions when they are of interest.
Compiled by Daniel Perlin, Reference Librarian
Last updated on June 2nd, 2010
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