Sociology of LawLibrary and online resources

Start at the resources by subject section of the library website (under Find)

Choose the option to Browse all guides

We have guides for Sociology

Political Studiesand Legal Resources

This is the sociology subject guide

It has suggested reference sources, databases for searching the content of sociological articles and

recommended websites.

The Legal Resources guide has information tabs for Statutes, Case Law, Research Databases etc.

Important things to consider…

• Canadian Law is generated by Federal or Provincial legislatures.

• Legislatures have control of different areas of law (or jurisdictions)

• To get started, it helps to know which house has control over the area of law you are interested in.

Statutes (existing laws) can be found online.Check the Legal Resources Subject Guide

• E-laws - The Ontario government site for consolidated statutes of Ontario

• Canada - Department of Justice list of Federal statutes by title.

Laws are not always static and can be challenged or changed.

• Case Law represents the work of the courts, where decisions are made. Sometimes these set a legal precedent.

• Canadian Case Law can be searched in CanLII - a free site managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada

• Government will also ratify old laws or create new legislation.

A “not so” precise recap of the legislative process

CANADA• Government or private member adopts a stance on an

issue.• Bill is proposed – There is a first reading.• Goes to Committee for input.• Committee members study the bill, adopts a report and

makes recommendations to accept, modify or start over.• Back to the whole house.• Other “Readings”.• A bill goes through Parliament and Senate – both

chambers have a similar process.

Canadian Parliamentary Sources Quick Access

LEGISInfo – quick access to text of proposed bills, legislative histories, press releases the verbatim debates (HANSARD) from the house, and further readings. Web Content starts in 2001.

TIPS: • Start with the FAQ section • Search by keywords in titles of bills• Search by bill number• Try searching newspapers, current events indexes or

scholarly sources to get bill numbers or terms.

LEGISInfo- one stop shopping for background, legislative

history, text of bills and further readingBill C 38 (July 21, 2005)

Canadian Parliamentary Sources Quick Access

• Parliament of Canada Website – has schedules for the house and the senate, and committee information. Search the bill number for pertinent historical information.

Key Canadian Parliamentary Sources

Bills

About Federal Bills

Search Bills online by type, parliamentary session number, and bill number.

Key Canadian Parliamentary Sources

Debates = the full text transcripts of parliament.

See - Hansard (Online)

• Can browse by session and date, (just like the bills)• Can search by clicking the session of parliament (at left) and then

the index to Hansard (top left menu)

• A limited Search the Debates by Subject option is available. Use the link on the Chamber Business page, to find a bill and related discussion from the House of Commons. (NOTE: This only appears to index sessions from 2006 on)

- Hansard (In Print) See DOC J 103 A 42 (ground floor)

To get into older indexes for HansardSelect the parliamentary session

And look for the index

NOTE: If you choose the option to browse by subject from the main commons page,

the index only goes to 2006

Key Canadian Parliamentary Sources

Committee Proceedings

Any organization or individual may submit a written brief to a committee of the House of Commons, even if they did not have the opportunity to appear as a witness.

• Committee Proceedings and reports online

• Older print materials can be searched in the library catalogue.

Federal Committees information online

Federal (House) Committees site

Has a list of existing committees. You can search by subject area, check for committee reports and see who is a witness for the committee.

Senate Committees

Similar information is available for Senate Committees.

Ontario Sources

• Ontario Legislature online

• Ontario Bills - online since 1995• Ontario Debates (Hansard) - online since

1981 - use advanced search)• Committees Section

Public Debate anyone?

The library has several current events and news databases with Canadian News Content:

CBCA

Canadian Newsstand

CPIQ

http://hilltimes.com - an independently-owned newsweekly based in Ottawa. Very Parliamentary!

News Databases can be found under the Databases tab in the “Legal resources” subject guide

Searching CBCA

Canadian Business and Current Affairs has content from

• Newspapers• Magazines• Television transcripts

Use the advanced search to add concepts by line and to specify where to search for your terms

Results may be in full text or you may have to follow the “find a copy” and

“get it” links to check the library holdings.

Searching Canadian Newsstand

• Canadian Newsstand includes full text newspaper content from across Canada

• The Canadian Newsstand search looks the same as CBCA.

• To limit results, you may want to avoid searching the full text of articles. To do this, search your terms in the “citation and abstract” section

Searching for Interest groups in the newspaper database

Other Interested Parties:

Interest Groups, Political Activists, Lobbyists and Members of the general public

1. For input to Canadian Legislation - check parliamentary committees records, documents and minutes.

2. Check the websites section of the Legal Resources page for:

Provincial Lobbyists registries. “Lobbyists” are defined by legislation and they may need to register with the level of government they are trying to persuade.

Also try www.Hillwatch.com

Need Scholarly Sources?

Check the scholarly journals tab for scholarly titles in CBCA

Or try other databases from the Databases tab of the Legal Resources subject guide.

Need a Sociological perspective?

• Return to the Sociology Subject guide for more Sociological Databases.

To search for articles, try Sociological AbstractsFor best results use the advanced search (green tab).

Tip: Search for terms as subjects (or descriptors) and use the second and third line to add additional concepts.

TIP: You can also browse for journals on the subject of law (or legislation). Scroll down on the advanced search page and browse or search the list of journals.

Here are some law journals that are indexed in sociological abstracts

NOTE:

To search for your subject in these journals, select the AND operator and click the Add to search button

Thank-you!!