Judges are always required to give reasons for their decisions. The decision of the court and its reasons may be contained in a written judgment of the court or may be given orally in court. Sometimes judges may combine these two forms and give their decision orally in court with written reasons for the decision following at a later date.
Law Reports
Most written judgments or decisions of the courts in Manitoba
are published or "reported" in what is called a law report. Copies
of judgments, whether they are reported or "unreported" (not
published) of the Manitoba courts are available from the
E.K. Williams Law Library
at Robson Hall, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba.
Judges of the Manitoba courts routinely send copies of their
decisions to legal publishers for publication in a law report.
The Maritime Law Book Company publishes the Manitoba Reports.
The Manitoba Reports are basically a record of Manitoba court
decisions with the earliest volume of reported cases beginning in 1875. Each year there is a new volume of Manitoba decisions reported.
Most Manitoba judgments are also accessible free of charge at
www.canlii.org.
Not only does this site provide access to Manitoba judgments but
also judgments and statutes of other Canadian jurisdictions.
CanLII is the Canadian Legal Information Institute and is an
initiative of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada (law
societies govern the practice of law by lawyers; see
The Law Society of Manitoba).
The Common Law
Law reports are important because our legal system is based upon
what is called case precedence. This means that the decisions
in past cases will be followed and applied to decide the outcome
in present cases. This creates certainty in our law as legal
disputes will be determined according to the law established
in previous cases. This is also what is referred to as the common
law. One of the responsibilities of a lawyer is to research and
find those previous decisions that support the legal position
of his or her client and that the court is required to follow.
For example, decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada (Canada's
highest court) are followed and applied by all judges of courts
in Canada. In Manitoba, decisions of the Manitoba Court of Appeal
(Manitoba's highest court) are followed by the judges of Manitoba's
trial courts.
In addition to the common law, is the law established or enacted by the legislature or Parliament (statute law). Where a case involves a statute, the court is required to apply the statute and in so doing, may be called upon to interpret a particular provision of the statute. The decision of the court concerning its interpretation and application of the statute provision would become a precedent (forming part of the common law) for future disputes involving the same statutory provision.
Persons interested in obtaining a transcript of court proceedings may do so upon request and upon payment of the appropriate fee. A transcript of an entire court proceeding can be requested or specific portions or excerpts of a court proceeding can be requested, such as a judge's oral reasons for decision. For more information about court transcripts or to order a transcript, please view the links below.
Transcript Information
Transcript Fees
Request for Transcript Estimate
Court Transcript Order Request
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The material provided here is for informational purposes only and is not to be relied upon as legal advice. Court staff cannot provide you with legal advice or complete court documents for you.
Last update - April 2005