For this assignment, you are to prepare a written case brief on the case noted above. A case
brief is a short summary of the case. It is presented in a systematic way, in order to sort out the
parties, identify the issues, ascertain what was decided, and understand the reasoning behind
decisions made by the court(s).
Case briefs can be extensive or short, depending on the depth of analysis. For your purpose, a
shorter case brief needs to include the following elements:
1. Title and Citation: The title of the case shows who is opposing whom.
2. Facts of the Case: Explain what happened.. Provide a summary of the pertinent facts and legal
points raised in the case. It should include the nature of the action, based on what occurrences,
and what happened in the lower court/s (procedural history). The facts are often conveniently
summarized at the beginning of the court’s published opinion.
The fact section of a good brief will include the following elements:
A one-sentence description of the nature of the case, to serve as an introduction.
A statement of the relevant law
A summary, plus relevant evidence and arguments presented in court to explain
who did what to whom and why.
A brief summary of actions taken by the lower courts, for example: defendant is
convicted; conviction upheld by appellate court; Supreme Court granted certiorari.
*For case brief 2, please include the most important points of the lower courts and
keep them in point form – this should be very brief.
3. Issues: The issues or questions of law raised by the facts peculiar to the case are often stated
explicitly by the court. What was the court asked to decide? Constitutional cases frequently
involve multiple issues. Ensure to capture the provisions and or debated points in your
restatement of the issue. This can be completed in point form – stated as questions.
4. Decisions: The decision, or holding, is the SCC court’s answer to a question presented to it for
answer by the parties involved or raised by the court itself in its own reading of the case. (Do
briefly provide the decision of the lower court here).
5. Ratio: The ratio (or ratio decidendi) is a statement of the legal rule (rationale) that the Court
used to make its decision. The ratio identifies what is important about a case from a legal
perspective and what effect it might have on society. Outlining the ratio is important because in
a common law system like Canada’s, the legal precedents set by the Supreme Court of Canada
are binding on lower courts and will therefore influence how they decide similar cases. The ratio
should be written as a statement. The reasoning, or rationale, is the chain of argument which
led the judges in either a majority or a dissenting opinion to rule as they did. How did they come
to the decision they did?
6. Analysis: What are your own thoughts on the impact this decision has on society? This is a
controversial case. One that provokes heated arguments regarding moral and ethical beliefs.
This section is not intended to be used as a regurgitation of the ratio. This section is for you to
provide your own analysis on the significance of this case – you may use established points from
the judge’s decisions but please ensure to expand or elaborate on them.
For this assignment, you will want to include each of the above elements – however please
ensure to maintain a written maximum of four pages double spaced in 12 pt font. It is the
student’s responsibility to ensure that the appropriate length dedicated for each section is
considered (example; you only have four pages – avoid using three pages to lay out the facts).
Please submit via Moodle in a pdf format. Emailed assignments will not be marked.
