Legal Citation with the Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide (the COAL Guide)

The case has a neutral citation: the citation pattern to use

This is covered in section 6.1.1 in the COAL Guide.

CITATION ELEMENTS: Case name, | neutral citation | pinpoint [if required] | [short form if required].

EXAMPLE: Radonna Investments Ltd v Rubin, 2012 ONCA 321.

Let's examine each part of the citation for a case with a neutral citation to understand how it is constructed:

1. Case name

• A case is identified by the names of those who were parties to the litigation.
• Reproduce case names as they appear in the database or reporter in which the case is found, but do not include a period after the “v” for versus (in English case names), “c” for contre (in French case names), or “R” for Rex or Regina (which is used to represent the government when bringing prosecution in right of the Crown).
• Retain periods elsewhere in case names, including where they exist in company names and where they are used in initializing/anonymizing the names of parties.
• Italicize case names.
• For more information, consult section 6.2 of the COAL Guide.

example: Radonna Investments Ltd. v Rubin

2. Neutral Citation

Use the neutral citation as given by the court. If you do not know what a neutral citation looks like, see the explanation under "Neutral Citations". 

example: Radonna Investments Ltd. v Rubin, 2012 ONCA 321.

3. Pinpoint [if required]

Include a pinpoint if you are citing to a particular passage in the judgment. Since your case has a neutral citation, make sure you cite to the paragraph number.

example: Radonna Investments Ltd. v Rubin, 2012 ONCA 321 at para 2.

4. Short Form [if required]

When citing a case more than once in a document, add a shortened case name in square brackets at the end of the citation the first time the case is cited. In subsequent citations of this case, only the shortened case name (and pinpoint, if applicable) is needed.

To create a shortened case name, typically use the name of the first party, or, if the first party is the Crown, use the name of the party that is not the Crown. See section 6.11 of the COAL Guide for more information.

example: Radonna Investments Ltd. v Rubin, 2012 ONCA 321 [Radonna].