Legend
limited to UBC students, faculty & staff (Connect to Library Resources or Library Access Browser Extension)
limited to UBC's Allard School of Law students & faculty
Law Library at Allard Hall
Case Digests
Digests:
- contain summaries of court cases
- usually provides an exhaustive list of cases for a particular jurisdiction or subject area
Canada
- Canadian AbridgmentCall Number: Reference Room (level 2): KE 173or via Westlaw Edge Canada
• Canada’s most comprehensive case digest service
• Covers virtually every case reported in Canada since the earliest times (1803), and unreported cases since 1986, with the exception of Quebec civil law cases
- Print version:
- find relevant cases by subject with either the Key & Research Guide (provides a detailed table of contents for each subject area) or the General Index volume
- locate case digests by topic in the relevant bound volume
- update research using the soft cover supplement and monthly issues of Canadian Current Law for more recent case summaries
- to find the full text of a decision, use the case citations given at the end of the digest
Example: Rooney v Chan (1992), 76 BCLR (2d) 186 - legal citations include
- the name of the parties
- the year of the decision
- the volume number
- the abbreviation for the law reports set (check the Abbreviations table published in the front of the bound volumes of the Abridgment to determine the full name
- a series statement (if any)
- first page of the decision
- Search the title in the UBC Library catalogue to find the exact location
United States
- American Digest SystemCall Number: Level 4: KF 141 2004• Covers all U.S. federal & state cases reported in the National Reporter System
• For each case, editorial staff write a headnote for every point of law that is discussed
• Each headnote is then assigned a Topic and Key Number that corresponds to that particular area of law
• The System allows a researcher to find decisions from any time period, in any U.S. jurisdiction, on any specific topic
• Accessible online via Westlaw Edge Canada: search using features such as hyperlinked Key Numbers or ‘Key Number Search Tool’ to find additional case law
United Kingdom
- The DigestCall Number: Reference Room (level 2): KD 296 E5
- Contains summaries of cases dating back to the early 1500s, from England & Wales, as well as cases from Scotland, Ireland and Commonwealth countries
- Select European Union cases also included
- Arranged under broad subject headings and sub-headings
- Consists of about 70 volumes, with
- Cumulative Supplement
- Consolidated Table of Cases
- Consolidated Index