LAW 204 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Royal Assent, Ryerson University, George Weston Limited
23 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 5: How to do Statutory Research
What is Statutory Research
• Statutory research is the research of statutes and legislation enacted by elected officials
• Although Case La is ipotat to udestadig legal ules ad oligatios, uh of
the rules regulating commercial activity is defined in Statutes or Acts
• Any research into a legal issue is not complete until Statutory Research is completed
What is a Statute
• Statutes or Acts are regulations passed by the federal government or a provincial
government
• A statute egis as a ill that goes though deate i the legislatue util it is oted o
• Multiple readings are required, and the bill is often revised until the bill receives royal
assent and becomes binding legislation across Canada or in the province
Examples of Statutes
• The Criminal Code of Canada is a federal statute that regulates criminal behaviour
across Canada
• The Competition Act is also federal legislation that governs business activity across
Canada
• The Ontario Sales of Good Act is an example of a provincial statute that governs the sale
of goods only in Ontario
Where to Find Statutes
• Current and past statutes are readily available online officially and unofficially
• Federal statutes can be found on the Department of Justice website officially, but
unofficially the same statute can be found on Canlii
• Ontario statutes can be found on the Government of Ontario E-Laws website and
additionally on Canlii
• Eey poie’s statutes a e foud o thei Gazette esite, hih is the offiial
newspaper of the government
Parts of Statutes
• Long Title – Gives a sense of the overall purpose of the legislation
• Short Title – The official means of reference for the legislation
• Parts, Sections, Subsections, Paragraphs, Clauses – The body of the legislation is divided
into large groupings (parts), and this is further broken down by sections, subsections,
paragraphs and individual clauses
• Marginal Notes – Indicate the general subject matter of the individual sections
• Coming into Force Date – Indicates when the legislation will become binding law in the
governing jurisdiction, if the legislation is silent on this issue, the legislation comes into
force upon receiving royal assent
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Examples of statutes: the criminal code of canada is a federal statute that regulates criminal behaviour across canada, the competition act is also federal legislation that governs business activity across. Canada: the ontario sales of good act is an example of a provincial statute that governs the sale of goods only in ontario. Literal or plain meaning rule: simply put, literal or strict construction requires that the words of the statute themselves, and nothing else, are to be used in determining the meaning of the statute. Wo(cid:396)ks a(cid:396)e to (cid:271)e gi(cid:448)e(cid:374) thei(cid:396) (cid:862)plai(cid:374)(cid:863), (cid:862)o(cid:396)di(cid:374)a(cid:396)y(cid:863), o(cid:396) (cid:862)g(cid:396)a(cid:373)(cid:373)ati(cid:272)al(cid:863) (cid:373)ea(cid:374)i(cid:374)g. nothi(cid:374)g is to be added, and nothing is to be left out. No intention is assumed on the part of. Parliament in enacting the statute except what can be gathered from the words themselves, and no extrinsic materials (reports, records of parliamentary debates, etc. ) are to be used as aids to construction.
