Glossary

The “plain meaning” rule states that if legislative text is clear, courts must apply it as written without interpretation. If the text is ambiguous, courts may then use interpretive rules and techniques (Sullivan, 2021).

A structured approach to prompt engineering, consisting of Prime, Prompt, Persona, Product, and Polish, by the University of Alberta.

Refer to Aboriginal peoples' historical occupancy and use of the land.

More information about Aboriginal and Treaty rights can be found on the Government of Canada website, where it discusses s. 25 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A written or an oral hearing involving either an individual and/or a company, or individuals or companies and the government, regarding statute-based rights and obligations.

A workplace policy that outlines permitted and prohibited uses of AI, along with clauses on privacy, liability, and disclosure.

According to the University of Victoria, "Annotated statutes are volumes of statutes with accompanying commentary and case notes, written section by section. They often include relevant regulations along with commentary. The commentary usually is written by academics or specialist practitioners in a field relevant to that statute. "

are volumes of statutes that are accompanying commentary and case notes, written section by section of the statute, they often include relevant regulations throughout the commentary (LibGuides: Legal Research and Writing: Annotated Statutes, n.d.). Annotated statutes serve as a secondary resource.

A party dissatisfied with the judgment or order of the trial-level court asks for a higher court to intervene and change the judgment or order of the first court . An appeal is not a new trial, instead it focuses on reviewing legal errors, procedural issues, or misinterpretations of the law (Côté, J., 2019).

The parties involved in the legal action must prove their facts on a 50% +1% balance that they are correct compared to their opposition (Bayda, n.d.).

Systematic error or skewed results generated by AI due to the nature of the data it was trained on.

A bill is a proposed Law that is introduced to parliament. This Bill is not yet law and needs to be debated, voted on, and receive Royal Assent before it can officially become Law

An existing court decision that lower courts must follow if the case in question is exceedingly similar (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 86).

A pre-existing statute, regulation, or case law that must be followed by lower courts (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 86).

A type of search that employs keywords alongside search syntax such as AND, OR, and NOT, which define the relationship between keywords to help the computer identify relevant results.

Bylaws are laws created by a municipal government, and they are delegated this power by the provincial legislature (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 28). Municipal governments can create bylaws for business licensing, structures, animals, health, and safety (p. 28).

Case law, also known as jurisprudence, consists of decisions that judges make regarding a legal proceeding (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 44).

Additional courthouse locations that offer most, but not all services as the base point locations.

Codification refers to the process of systematically organizing and consolidating laws into a formal legal code. In Canada, laws are often codified by subject, such as the Criminal Code (Department of Justice, 2021).

Coming into force is the date on which a law becomes enforceable.

At the very end of the proceeding or case, the disposition is announced. The disposition is an order from the court that states the final outcome of the entire proceeding.

An enabling statute is a law that grants authority for regulations to be created under it (Queen’s University Library, 2025). It provides the legal foundation for subordinate legislation.

the formal process by which laws are approved and put into effect (Justice Laws Website, 2025).

The facts are “the who, what, why, when, and how” of the legal scenario presented to the court. In a trial or hearing, they include the parties to the dispute, the events that led up to and created the cause of action, and the evidence submitted to prove each party’s case.

Write freely to explore concepts in depth, focusing less on “perfection.”

A type of artificial intelligence that creates new content, such as text, images, audio, or computer code, in response to a user's prompt. It generates original content based on patterns learned from large amounts of training data (ChatGPT, June 2026).

The golden rule allows courts to depart from the ordinary or plain meaning of words only where a literal interpretation would lead to absurd or inconsistent results. This ensures that legislation is applied reasonably without straying beyond the text itself.

The phenomenon where AI generates fabricated or inaccurate information, such as fictitious case law.

The headnote and summary include catch lines and condensed information about the decision that follows. They are written by the editor of the law reporter or database that publishes the case. The headnote contains words and phrases (catch lines) used to identify key aspects of the case, which may be used as an initial screening device to determine the relevancy or similarity of the case.

Horizontal stare decisis refers to courts following earlier decisions made by other judges at the same level of court within the same province or territory. Although these decisions are not binding in exactly the same way as decisions from a higher court, judges are generally expected to follow them to promote fairness, consistency, and stability in the law. A judge will depart from an earlier decision of a court at the same level only in limited circumstances, such as when a higher court has changed the law, the earlier decision was made through a significant legal error (per incuriam), or the issue was not fully considered in the original case (Government of Canada, n.d.; McDougall Gauley LLP, 2025).

The issues are the questions that the decision-maker must answer in order to reach a decision.

refers to what subsequent court decisions have said about a particular case. It also refers to what cases have said about statutes and sections of a statute (LibGuides: Legal Research and Writing: Judicial Treatment, n.d.).

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, jurisprudence is, "the course of court decisions as distinguished from legislation and doctrine." The Law Dictionary differs from this definition, and states that jurisprudence is, "In the proper sense of the word, “jurisprudence” is the science of law, namely, that science which has for its function to ascertain the principles on which legal rules are based, so as not only to classify those rules in their proper order, and show the relation in which they stand to one another, but also to settle the manner in which new or doubtful cases should be brought under the appropriate rules."

A keyword is a specific word or phrase used in a search query to retrieve relevant information or content. Keywords are essential in indexing and finding data in databases, search engines, and information systems, serving as the primary terms that describe the subject or focus of the search.

Sets out how facts are introduced and proven in a trial or a proceeding (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 5).

Granted permission based on whether the case in question fits the criteria of public importance or issue of law.

A legal professional’s duty to act competently, ethically, and in the client’s best interest.

A motion, a trial, an appeal, or a hearing.

a general term that is used to refer to laws, regulations and other official rules created by government bodies (Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library, 2025).

The authorities relied upon and cited in the proceeding may include legislation (statutes, regulations, and bylaws), case law, and secondary sources such as law journals and textbooks. Both parties typically cite or present their own line of authority, which are “sets of cases that share the same or similar viewpoint over a period of time” (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 47).

A nesting search, in research search queries, is a technique that uses parentheses to group related keywords and logical operators, such as AND, OR, and NOT, to structure the search logic.

Non-parliamentary papers are any papers a government department produces intended for use outside of Parliament.

Acts that are not in force are not yet enforceable and are waiting for any rule, order, regulation, or proclamation to bring them into force.

The process of finding cases that have been applied or discussed based on a particular statute, regulation, or section of either.

Means “words by the way” (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 48). This is information that a decision-maker includes in the written judgment that is not directly related to the decision.

Parliamentary papers include committee documents, journals, minutes of proceedings, and bills.

A type of search where a user inputs language into the search field in a manner that reflects natural speech or writing.

provides the purpose or intent behind the law.

An earlier event or action used as a guide for similar circumstances.

The first source from which the information comes, whether you have witnessed it or found it in case law, legislation, or government documents. Primary sources create the law and are heavily relied upon when conducting legal research (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 7).

Primary sources of law consist of legislation, including statutes and regulations, as well as decisions rendered by courts and administrative tribunals. These primary sources establish and carry the full force of the law, making them the foundational materials upon which you will predominantly rely in legal writing.

A private act is a law that is aimed at a specific individual or private institution.

Law that deals with legal relationships between individuals and/or businesses (Blatt & Kurtz, 2020, p. 17).

The body of law that sets out the rules for how a case gets before the court and how it makes its way through the legal system (Gulycz & Kelly, 2018, p. 7).

A public general act is a law that is universally applicable and is permanent. These public general acts on the books are periodically gathered, consolidated, and published as Revised Statutes.

A group of laws that deals with individuals or businesses against the government.

The reason or the cause of action for the case before the court. It may be phrased as, “This is a claim for damages arising from…,” “On appeal from the judgment of…,” or it may simply state, “Action for damages for negligence.” It leads into the facts of the case.

similar to that of a judge; often used to describe the functions of a tribunal when it must make a decision regarding the substantive rights of a person (Nastasi et al., 2020).

The ratio decidendi (or ratio) is the “reason for deciding.” It is the most important element in a case for researchers – it is the law that is set out when the case is cited in research.

or "recidivist", meaning the tendency to relapse in previous behaviour; in convicted criminals, it would refer to reoffending (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). For example, this individual is a recidivist offender, meaning a ‘repeat’ offender.

Regulations are legally binding rules that explain how statutes are applied in practice (LawCentral Alberta, n.d.). The authority to create regulations is granted within the Act itself. Regulations carry the full power of law.

To repeal a law means to formally revoke or nullify it, removing its legal effect.

Royal assent is the formal approval by Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor that gives a bill passed by the Legislative Assembly the force of law.

Secondary sources provide analysis and insight into primary sources of law. Sources include books, legal research services, encyclopedic digests, articles, blogs, and websites, as outlined in the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation.

Refers to the doctrine of precedent formed by judges in previous decisions to be applied in similar cases to ensure consistency and certainty in the law

Also called legislation or acts - are written laws created by the federal Parliament or a provincial legislature.

The fundamental principle of statutory interpretation is that “the words of a statute be read in their entire context and in their grammatical and ordinary sense harmoniously with the scheme of the Act, the object of the Act, and the intention of the legislature” (Principles of Interpretation - Criminal Law Notebook, n.d.).

Used to locate the case in a printed report and on an online database. Includes the citation, date of decision, court/action number, level of court, parties involved, and name of the decision maker (e.g., Judge or Justice)

also known as delegated legislation, refers to legal rules or regulations made under the authority of a statute (Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library, 2025; Queen’s University Library, 2025).

The body of law that sets out the rights and responsibilities of individuals that may be enforced by legal proceedings (Gulycz & Kelly, 2018, p. 7).

Establish the core legal rules, rights, and obligations that individuals and organizations must follow (Ervine, 2023).

The table of authorities is a list of the case law and any legislation or secondary sources considered by the decision-maker in making the decision.

Rights set out in treaties entered into by the Crown and a particular group of Aboriginal people.

More information about Aboriginal and Treaty rights can be found on the Government of Canada website, where it discusses s. 25 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Vertical stare decisis means that lower courts must follow the legal decisions of higher courts in the same court hierarchy. For example, provincial trial courts must follow decisions made by their province's court of appeal, and all Canadian courts must follow decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada. This rule helps ensure that the law is applied consistently and predictably across the country. In rare situations, a higher court may later change the law, but lower courts cannot simply ignore a binding precedent because they disagree with it (Government of Canada, n.d.; McDougall Gauley LLP, 2025).