Legal Citation Style

Element 

Direction 

3.3 Style of Cause 

Use ‘v’ for cases in English and ‘c’ for French. (p. E-38) 

Gordon v Goertz

      3.3.1 Names 

Surnames of 1st party mentioned on each side only. (p. E-38) 

e.g. Gordon v Goertz

Include information identifying a company (e.g. Co., Ltd.). (p. E-39) 

e.g. National Hockey League v Pepsi-Cola Canada Ltd.,  [1992] 6 WWR 216, 70 BCLR (2d) 27.

Use common country names (no formal or abbreviations). (p. E-39) 

e.g. Mexico v Cargill, Incorporated, 2011 ONCA 622, 341 DLR (4th) 249.

Canadian executive government authority is formally vested in the Queen, hence the use of 'R' for the Latin word for queen, regina, in legal citations.

R v Beauchamp, 2015 ONCA 260 

3.4 Year of Decision 

Add year of decision (in parentheses after style of cause) when not indicated in main citation. 

e.g. Smith v Cane (1985), 

If year in main citation is different than year of decision, add year of decision (in parentheses after style of cause). 

e.g. Smith v Cane (1985), [1984] SRC 12, 59 BCLR (3d) 1. (please note: this example is fictional)

Do not add a year of decision if already have a neutral citation or if same year as main citation. (p. E-42) 

e.g. Victoria (City) v Adams, 2009 BCCA 563, 313 DLR (4th) 29.

3.5 Neutral Citation 

Do not make a neutral citation up on your own. Only use if already exists.

Always has these 3 elements: year of decision, tribunal identifier (usually abbreviations for jurisdiction and court type), and decision number. (pp. E-42 to E-43) 

e.g. Victoria (City) v Adams, 2009 BCCA 563, 313 DLR (4th) 29.

This example would be from the BC Court of Appeal decision number 563 from the year 2009.

e.g. R v Beauchamp, 2015 ONCA 260 

This example would be from the Ontario Court of Appeal decision number 260 from the year 2015.

3.6 Pinpoint 

Add this element only if needed. Begin this section with ‘at’. 

e.g. Gordon v Goertz, [1996] 2 SCR 27 at para. 13, 134 DLR (4th) 321.

Use 'para' for one paragraph or 'paras' to refer to multiple paragraphs when it is from a neutral citation or has official paragraph numbers, can use page numbers if not neutral citation or paragraph numbers not present. (p. E-44) 

3.7 Printed Reporter 

A printed reporter might be used as a parallel citation. Use most official reporter first. (p. E-45) 

e.g. Gordon v Goertz, [1996] 2 SCR 27 at para. 13, 134 DLR (4th) 321.

3.8 Online Database Services    

Can find a parallel citation from an online database. "Do not refer to a URL when citing an online database" (McGill guide, 2018, p. E-46). CanLII is preferred over other sources because it is freely available online. Identifiers usually are in this format: 

Year CanLII document serial number 

e.g. R v Adams, [1996] 3 SCR 101, 1996 CanLII 169.

(Do not need if you have a neutral citation). (p. E-47) 

The McGill Guide does not require URLs for citing cases. APA 7th ed. (2020) states including URLs are optional but can be included to help the reader to find the case (p. 358). Check with your instructor on their preference. 

e.g. Victoria (City) v Adams, 2009 BCCA 563, 313 DLR (4th) 29. https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/CA/09/05/2009BCCA0563.htm