Canadian Legal Research Manual

Noting up legislation is a two part process:

1. Updating, where you check to make sure you have the most up-to-date version of the statute or regulation.
2. Judicial consideration, where you check how the courts have interpreted the statute or regulation.

It is essential to note up every piece of legislation you are using in your research. The following information will guide you through this process.

The process for updating legislation is different for statutes and regulations. Please view the following pages for the steps in updating each type:

• Updating Statutes
• Updating Regulations

Case law and legislation are intertwined. When a judge interprets a statute, that interpretation may become binding according to the principles of stare decisis ("let the decision stand"). Therefore, it is not sufficient to look only at a statute or regulation's text; you must also investigate how courts have dealt with that piece of legislation. 

You can accomplish this task online using a tool called a citator. This page describes how to note up legislation using the citators on CanLII (RefLex), Lexis (QuickCITE), and Westlaw (KeyCite). While the steps describe noting up a section of a statute, the same can be followed to note up a section of a regulation.

Step by Step Instructions