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• Introduction
  
  
• 1.1 What is Jurisprudence
  
  
• 1.2 How is Case Law Compiled
  
  
• 1.3 Finding Case Law
  
  
• 1.4 Secondary Sources
  
  
• 1.5 Case Law Indexes
  
  
• 1.6 Case Digests
  
  
• 1.7 Commercial and Legal Information Institute Databases
  
  
• 1.8 The Canadian Abridgement
  
  
• 1.9 What Can I Find by Using the Canadian Abridgment?
  
  
• 1.10 Updating and Noting-Up Cases
  
  
• 1.11 Updating and Noting-Up Using the Canadian Abridgment
  
  
• 1.12 Noting-Up Electronically
  
  
• 1.13 Noting-Up Electronically with QuickCITE
  
  
• 1.14 Noting-Up Electronically with KeyCite Canada
  
  
• Review and Conclusion
  
  

Case Law and the Canadian Abridgement – Secondary Sources

You should always familiarize yourself with a particular area of law before searching for cases. Secondary sources allow you to acquire a grasp of the area of law in question. Always consult secondary sources first!

For example, the leading textbooks on the subject are excellent resources, e.g.:

• Constitutional Law of Canada by Peter Hogg;
• Criminal Law by Kent Roach or Canadian Criminal Law by Don Stuart.

Another indispensible secondary source is the legal encyclopedia, e.g.:

• Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED), or Halsbury's Laws of Canada, either in print or online, which both include volumes on constitutional law and criminal law.

Finally, annotated codes or statutes are tremendously helpful aids when searching for case law relating to a particular legislative section, e.g.:

• Martin's Annual Criminal Code.

See the module on secondary sources for more information on these and other types of secondary sources.