Access to Court records
Accessing webcasts, documents filed by parties, cases in brief, case summaries and judgments and submitting a request for Court’s records.
The Supreme Court of Canada is an open court. This means that anyone can consult a court file or attend a court hearing. The Court posts frequently requested appeal documents on the website. You can Search case information to retrieve a document. To obtain copies of a document that you can’t find, please submit a Request for Court records.
Not every document can be accessed. Access may be limited by privacy legislation or a court order. Consult the Policy for access to Supreme Court of Canada court records for further information.
The use of court records is subject to limitations that you can find in our Terms and conditions. Find more information on the different court records available to you:
Webcast
Courtroom proceedings are webcast live and then archived unless there is a publication ban or privacy concerns in the case.
Factums on appeal
These are documents filed by the appellant, respondent and interveners that set out their legal arguments on the appeal. If a factum contains personal information or information that is subject to a publication ban, a public version that has that information removed will be posted on the website.
Memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal
These are documents filed by the applicant and respondent that set out the legal arguments on the application for leave to appeal. These are only posted for those cases in which the Court grants leave to appeal. If you want to see a memorandum of argument on a leave application that was dismissed, please submit a Request for Court records.
If a memorandum of argument contains personal information or information that is subject to a publication ban, a public version that has that information removed will be posted on the website.
Cases in Brief
Cases in Brief are short summaries of the Court’s written decisions drafted in reader-friendly language, so that anyone interested can learn about the decisions that affect their lives. They are prepared by communications staff of the Supreme Court of Canada. They do not form part of the Court’s reasons for judgment and are not for use in legal proceedings.
Case summaries
Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.
Judgments
The Supreme Court of Canada issues 2 types of judgments. A judgment on a leave application decides whether the Court will hear an appeal or not. If the Court dismisses the application for leave to appeal, the file is closed. If the Court grants the application for leave to appeal, it will hear that appeal. A judgment on appeal is the final judgment that ends the appeal; it can be given orally (from the bench) or through written reasons at a later date (reserved). Once in a while, a decision from the bench will be followed by written reasons later.