A Neutral Citation Standard for Case Law

Approved in June 1999 by the Canadian Association of Law Librarians (Resolution, June 2 1999) and by the Canadian Judicial Council (Press release, June 28 1999), this standard provides courts with a case naming method that does not depend on their publication in printed case law reports.

Works on the Neutral citation were made possible with support from the following partners and sponsors:

Canadian Judicial Council
Department of Justice of Canada
Department of Justice of Quebec
Canadian Association of Law Libraries
Federation of Law Societies of Canada
Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche (FCAR) of Québec (# 99-ER-1557)
Commonwealth Legal Inc. (formerly Integer.actif / Legal Research Network)
Wilson & Lafleur
QuickLaw
LexUM

Documents

Neutral Citation Standard for Case Law - the complete text of the standard: [HTML];
Summary - a quick reference tool to the standard: [HTML];
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - questions and answers about the standard: [HTML] ;
Implementation Guide - a set of instructions helping judges and court administrators implementing the Neutral Citation Standard: [HTML];

Implementation of the Standard by Superior courts across Canada

Implementation completed or on track

Agreement of principle

Detailed list of Canadian courts and tribunals that adopted the Standard

For each court listed below, the cited judgment is the first - or one of the first, when the first is not available online - to display an official neutral core of the citation. The month between parentheses besides the court official name corresponds to the first month of application of the Standard by this court.

Federal level

Supreme Court of Canada (January 2000)

Federal Court of Canada - Trial Division (February 2001)

Federal Court of Canada - Appeal Division (Federal Court of Appeal) (February 2001)

Tax Court of Canada (January 2003)

Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (October 2001)

Competition Tribunal of Canada (January 2001)

British Columbia

Court of Appeal (January 1999)

R. v. Giles, 1999 BCCA 0003

Supreme Court of British Columbia (January 2000)

Powell v. I.C.B.C., 2000 BCSC 1

Provincial Court of British Columbia (February 1999)

Palo v. Palo, 1999 BCPC 0001

British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (January 2000)

Mazuelos v. Mary Jo Clark, 2000 BCHRT 1

British Columbia Securities Commission (January 2001)

Re: Davis & Davis Personal and Professional Development Seminars Ltd., 2001 BCSECCOM 1

Alberta

Court of Appeal (January 1998)

R. v. Siemens, 1998 ABCA 1 (PDF)

Court of Queen's Bench (January 1998)

Naccarato v. Brio Beverages Inc., 1998 ABQB 1 (PDF)

Provincial Court (January 1998)

R. v. Busenius, 1998 ABPC 1 (PDF)

Saskatchewan

Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan (January 2001)

R. v. Zarubin, 2001 SKCA 1 (from CanLII)

Court of Queen's Bench (January 2001)

Lachance v. Auzano Asset Management Inc., 1999 SKQB 1 (from the Law Society of Saskatchewan)

Provincial Court (January 2002)

R. v. Goodine, 2002 SKPC 1 (from CanLII)

Manitoba

Court of Appeal (Mars 2000)

Chalmers v. Highland Park Financial Inc., 2000 MBCA 2 (from CanLII)

Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba (Mars 2000)

R. v. Brown, 2000 MBQB 25 (from CanLII)

Ontario

Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (January 2000)

Decision 1994/99, 2000 ONWSIAT 1 (PDF)

Quebec

Tribunal des professions du Québec (January 1999)

Clairmont c. Vétérinaires, 1999 QCTP 001 (from CanLII)

Conseil de la magistrature du Québec (November 2000)

Dadji c. Polack, 1999 CMQC 44 (from CanLII)

Commission des relations du travail (November 2002)

Syndicat des employés de l’Institut Teccart Inc. c. Institut Teccart (1996) Inc., 2002 QCCRT 0001 (from CanLII)

New Brunswick

Cour of Appeal of New Brunswick (May 2001)

Ross v. Beutel, 2001 NBCA 62 (from CanLII)

Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick (from CanLII) (January 2002)

Vincent v. Abu-Bakare, 2002 NBQB 102 (from CanLII)

Provincial Court (from CanLII) (December 2002)

R. v. Bourgeois, 2003 NBPC 1 (from CanLII)

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (September 1999)

Martini v. Wrathall, 1999 NSCA 105 (from CanLII)

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (December 2000)

R. v. Innocente, 2001 NSSC 1 (from CanLII)

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Family Division (January 2001)

Durant v. Durant, 2001 NSSF 1 (from CanLII)

Provincial Court of Nova Scotia (March 2001)

R. v. Marshall, 2001 NSPC 2 (from CanLII)

Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (January 1997)

N.(R.) v. Director of victim services, 1997 NSUARB 108 (from CanLII)

Prince Edward Island

Supreme Court, Appeal Division (January 2000)

Pitre v. Law Society of P.E.I., 2000 PESCAD 1 (PDF)

Supreme Court, Trial Division (January 2000)

Cumberland Trust v. Maritime Electric, 2000 PESCTD 1 (PDF)

Newfoudland and Labrador

Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Court of Appeal (January 2001)

R v. Evans, 2001 NFCA 1 (from CanLII)

Territoire du Yukon

Court of Appeal (March 2000)

Ketza Construction Corp. v. Mickey, 2000 YKCA 1 (from CanLII)

Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory (March 2000)

Annie Lake Trucking v. Tutchone Air inc., 2001 YKSC 502 (from CanLII)

Territorial Court of Yukon (December 1999)

R. v. Luke, 2002 YKTC 72, (from CanLII)

Youth Court (January 2001)

R. v. L.C., 2001 YKYC 2 (from CanLII)

North West Territories

Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories (December 1999)

Fullowka v. Witte, 1999 NWTCA 1 (PDF)

Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories (October 1999)

R. v. Kudlak, 1999 NWTSC 4

Territorial Court of the Northwest territories (December 1999)

R. v. Halldorson, 1999 NWTTC 2

Nunavut

Nunavut Court of Justice (from CanLII) (January 2001)

Kadlak v. Nunavut (Minister of Sustainable Development), 2001 NUCJ 1 (from CanLII)

The Standard in the legal research industry

Carswell - McGill Law Journal: Le Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (5th ed., Toronto, Carswell, 2002), describes the Standard at Section 3.10.
Quicklaw: Quickcite finder allows searching a decision by its neutral citation.
Thémis: The Guide des références pour la rédaction juridique (6th ed., Montreal, Thémis, 2000), by Didier Lluelles, describes the Standard at page 58.

A Neutral Citation Standard for Case Law

Documents

Implementation of the Standard by Superior courts across Canada

Detailed list of Canadian courts and tribunals that adopted the Standard

The Standard in the legal research industry

The Standard in the Press

Archives