ABSTRACT
Using statistical analysis, this chapter explores the language of doctrinal sources – such as books, law review articles, and governmental reports – that the Supreme Court of Canada cited in its private law decisions issued between 2000 and 2020 in the areas of tort, contract, and property law. More specifically, the analysis considers whether the Court cited doctrinal sources written in English, in French, or in both official languages.
This chapter's statistical analysis produced two important findings. First, in private law decisions that originated outside of Quebec and that cited five or more doctrinal sources, the Court rarely cited doctrinal sources written in French. In contrast, in cases that originated in Quebec and that cited five or more doctrinal sources, the Court more frequently cited doctrinal sources written in English. Second, private law decisions that originated in Quebec more frequently cite bilingual doctrinal sources compared to private law decisions that originated in the rest of Canada.
