Constitutional Law & Charter of Rights & Freedoms

In this guide, you will find information, resources and links about Canadian constitutional law. This includes some of the following subjects:

Constitutional:

Division of powers
Parliament & legislatures

Charter of Rights & Freedoms:

Civil liberties
Human rights
Discrimination

For information about native rights, treaties, and other aboriginal law matters, check out our research guide on Aboriginal Law

Texts

Annotated Indian Act and aboriginal constitutional provisions by Shin Imai Table of Contents
Canada’s constitutional law in a nutshell, 4th ed. by Bernard W. Funston and Eugene Meehan Table of Contents
The Canadian Charter of Rights : the prosecution and defence of criminal and other statutory offences by Roderick M. McLeod … [et al.].
Constitutional law, 5th ed. by Patrick J. Monahan, Byron Shaw Table of Contents also available as an e-text
Constitutional law of Canada, 5th ed. by Peter W. Hogg Table of Contents
Constitutional law of Canada, 9th ed. by Joseph Eliot Magnet Table of Contents
Constitutional remedies in Canada, 2nd ed. by Kent Roach Table of Contents
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 6th ed. by Robert Sharpe & Kent Roach Table of Contents Also available as an e-text
Understanding Charter damages: the Judicial evolution of a charter remedy by W.H. Charles Table of Contents Also available as an e-text

Case Law

Library Resources

E-Resources

When you visit one of our libraries, you have access to comprehensive caselaw databases:

For more information on finding cases, check out our Find Cases page

In Print

Alberta Court Judgments

A collection of the judgments of the Alberta Courts is available from CanLII. The official version of the reasons for judgment is the signed original or handwritten endorsement in the court file. If there is a question about the content of a judgment, the original court file takes precedence.

CanLII

Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII) provides free searchable full-text access to Canadian case law. The scope of coverage varies by jurisdiction and court.

Boolean operators, proximity connectors, phrases and date restrictions can be incorporated into your query. Using the [Advanced Search] feature, you can select one or more jurisdictions to be searched, limit your search to appellate decisions, and restrict your search by type of tribunal.

You can also use CanLII to retrieve cases by citation or name.

Case Digests

E-Resources

The Canadian Abridgment available on:

WestlawNext – Canada (LawSource)

All Canadian Summaries, Canadian Case Summaries and Canada Digest are available on:

LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®

Print Resources

Alberta weekly law digest (AWLD)

Legislation

Federal

Provincial

Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000, c A-25.5

The links above connect to the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) version for convenience and ease of use. To access or purchase the official version, go to Alberta Queen’s Printer

Encyclopedias

Canadian Encyclopedic Digest

Canadian encyclopedic digest (C.E.D.) (Western), 4th ed. includes coverage of Federal, Provincial (4 Western provinces) and Territorial legislation.

Titles related to Constitutional law include:

Aboriginal Law. Volume 1, Title 1
Administrative Law. Volume 2, Title 4
Human Rights. Volume 32, Title 81
Municipal Corporations-General. Volume 42, Title 107.2
Parliament & Legislature. Volume 43, Title 113

The CED provides discussion of these areas of law with annotations to legislation and case law.

Also available electronically through: WestlawNext – Canada (LawSource)

Halsbury's Laws of Canada

Halsbury’s laws of Canada is a multi-volume set includes coverage of Federal, Provincial & Territorial legislation

This encyclopedia explains the legislation and cases which govern family law issues in every jurisdiction in Canada, allowing you to quickly locate, contextualize and apply the basic elements of the law.

Titles related to Constitution Law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms include:

Aboriginal Law (HAB)
Administrative Law (HAD)
Constitutional Law: Charter Rights (HCHR)
Constitutional Law: Division of Powers (HCL)
Legislatures (HLE)

Additional information may be found under other topical headings, and subsequent developments may be located by referring to the Cumulative Supplement.

Also available electronically through: LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®

Journals

Print

E-Resources

Canadian Journal of Human Rights

LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®

WestlawNext – Canada (LawSource) – Contains a collection of Canadian journals and law reviews, as well as all articles and case comments appearing in Carswell law reports.

Heinonline – Provides full-text access to Canadian and international law reviews and legal journals.

Websites

Alberta

Advocacy & Special Interest Groups

Agencies

Alberta Human Rights Commission

Federal

Advocacy & Special Interest Groups

Agencies

Canadian Human Rights Commission

Legal Blogs

General Information

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – provides information about the charter and summaries of each section and its purpose
Primary Documents – Searchable cite containing historical information on the Constitution
Supreme law : an introduction
History before 1981

Research Groups