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→Finding case law
Because the common law consists of the decisions of judges made over the past several hundred years, the common law is researched by looking through these decisions. These decisions used to be only available in books. Those books, depending on the publisher, were issued on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. (When you see a promotional photograph of a lawyer <span class="noglossary">standing</span> in front of a giant rack of musty, leather-bound books, the lawyer is <span class="noglossary">standing</span> in front of these collections of the case law.) These books, called ''reporters'', were where the past decisions of the courts could be found if you needed to make an argument about how the law applied to your particular situation. You can still find collections of reporters in the library of your local courthouse or at a law school in your neighbourhood. These libraries are open to the public, although they may have restricted business hours.
Thankfully, these days almost every important decision is published online as well. This makes research a lot easier and saves a lot of time travelling to and from the library. [httphttps://canlii.org CanLII], the Canadian Legal Information Institute, has a collection of most cases published since 1990 and a growing number of older cases from all parts of Canada. CanLII is, without a doubt, the best place to find case law.
The courts also post case law on their respective websites. You can search the judgments of:
*the [httphttps://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgments-decisions Provincial Court of British Columbia],
*the [https://www.bccourts.ca/search_judgments.aspx Supreme Court of British Columbia],
*the [https://www.bccourts.ca/search_judgments.aspx Court of Appeal for British Columbia], and
*the [httphttps://scc.lexum.org/decisia-scc-csc/scc-csc/en/nav.do Supreme Court of Canada].
These websites also keep lists of recently released decisions that may be published there before making it to CanLII.