# CanLII

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{{Short description|Canadian non-profit legal database}}
{{Infobox organization
|name           = CanLII
|image          =
|type           = [Non-profit](/source/Non-profit)
|parent_organization         = [Federation of Law Societies of Canada](/source/Federation_of_Law_Societies_of_Canada)
|purpose        = [Legal education](/source/Legal_education)
|website        = {{Official URL}}
}}

The '''Canadian Legal Information Institute''' ('''CanLII'''; {{langx|fr|Institut canadien d'information juridique}}) is a non-profit organization created and funded by the [Federation of Law Societies of Canada](/source/Federation_of_Law_Societies_of_Canada) in 2001 on behalf of its 14 member societies. CanLII is a member of the [Free Access to Law Movement](/source/Free_Access_to_Law_Movement), which includes the primary stakeholders involved in free, open publication of law throughout the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.canlii.org/2018/02/28/canadian-legal-information-institute-canlii-acquires-montreal-technology-firm-2/|title=Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) acquires Lexum, a Montreal technology firm|publisher=canlii.org|date=2018-02-28|accessdate=2019-11-26}}</ref>

==Background==
CanLII offers free public access to over 2.4 million documents<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canlii.org/en/#search/ |title=CanLII - Search all CanLII Databases |publisher=Canlii.ca |accessdate=2018-09-12}}</ref> across more than 300 case law and legislative databases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canlii.org/en/databases.html |title=CanLII - Scope of CanLII's Databases |publisher=Canlii.ca |accessdate=2018-09-12}}</ref> The official websites of provincial governments, which provide access to primary legislative documents, are linked to CANLII online.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dina |first=Yemisi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0JeKBAAAQBAJ&dq=canadian+legal+information+institute&pg=PA30 |title=Law Librarianship in Academic Libraries: Best Practices |date=2015-04-10 |publisher=Chandos Publishing |isbn=978-0-08-100179-0 |pages=30}}</ref> The CANLII database is one of the most comprehensive collections of Canadian federal, provincial and territorial legislation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Siu |first=Bobby |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0gneDwAAQBAJ&dq=canlii&pg=PA316 |title=Developing Public Policy, Second Edition: A Practical Guide |date=2020-04-21 |publisher=Canadian Scholars’ Press |isbn=978-1-77338-175-6 |chapter=Appendix 2}}</ref> It is used by lawyers, legal professionals and the general public, with usage averaging over 30,000 visits per day.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slaw.ca/2018/12/17/top-ten-accessed-cases-from-2018/|title=CanLII's Top Ten Accessed Cases from 2018 – Slaw|website=www.slaw.ca|date=17 December 2018 |access-date=2018-12-17}}</ref> The case law database is reportedly growing at a rate of approximately 120,000 new cases each year, 20% of which are historic cases which are included to enrich existing databases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.droit-inc.com/article7076-Un-million-de-decisions |title=Un million de décisions... |publisher=droit-inc.com |date=2012-02-21 |accessdate=2012-02-26}}</ref>

== History ==
In April 2014, CanLII launched CanLII Connects, a legal community sourced publication and discussion platform for case law summaries and commentaries.<ref>{{cite web|title=CanLII Connects!|url=http://nationalmagazine.ca/Blog/April-2014/CanLII-Connects!.aspx|website=National Magazine|publisher=Canadian Bar Association|access-date=2014-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019092905/http://nationalmagazine.ca/Blog/April-2014/CanLII-Connects!.aspx|archive-date=2014-10-19|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=CanLII Connects website connects accessible law to Canadians|url=http://business.financialpost.com/2014/04/04/canlii-connects-website-connects-accessible-law-to-canadians/|newspaper=Financial Post|date=4 April 2014 |accessdate=10 October 2014|last1=Kowalski |first1=Mitch }}</ref>

In March 2018, CanLII launched a commentary program including law reviews, e-books, articles, public legal education materials, and reports.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blog.canlii.org/2018/04/20/more-commentary/|title=More commentary!|date=2018-04-20|work=The CanLII Blog|access-date=2018-09-12|language=en-US}}</ref>

In June 2020, CanLII started actively promoting the CanLII guest writer program.<ref>{{Cite web|title=CanLII {{!}} Common Law Marriage in British Columbia|url=https://commentary.canlii.org/w/canlii/2020CanLIIDocs1606#!fragment//BQCwhgziBcwMYgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoByCgSgBpltTCIBFRQ3AT0otokLC4EbDtyp8BQkAGU8pAELcASgFEAMioBqAQQByAYRW1SYAEbRS2ONWpA|access-date=2020-06-19|website=commentary.canlii.org}}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> {{Asof|2024|February}}, CanLII is piloting the use of a [large language model](/source/large_language_model) to generate [artificial intelligence](/source/artificial_intelligence) case summaries.<ref>CanLII, [https://canliiconnects.org/en/summaries/93556 Steinlauf v. Deol (AI Case Analysis)], accessed 17 February 2024</ref>

Other websites will often use CanLII as their primary source when referring to Canadian case law,<ref name="CaselawNinja">{{Cite web|url=https://caselaw.ninja/index.php/Main_Page|title=Caselaw.ninja, retrieved 2021-06-17|accessdate=Dec 30, 2022}}</ref> and as of the 10th Edition of the [Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation](/source/Canadian_Guide_to_Uniform_Legal_Citation), is the designated preferred [citation](/source/Case_citation), in the absence of official court-issued [neutral citations](/source/Neutral_citation).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosborough |first=Hannah |date=2023-10-17 |title=McGill Guide 10th Edition: Hierarchy of Sources |url=https://www.slaw.ca/2023/10/17/mcgill-guide-10th-edition-hierarchy-of-sources/ |access-date=2024-04-21 |website=Slaw |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-15 |title=On CanLII's new place in the McGill Guide's hierarchy of sources |url=https://blog.canlii.org/2023/11/15/on-canliis-new-place-in-the-mcgill-guides-hierarchy-of-sources/ |access-date=2024-04-21 |website=The CanLII Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

In November 2024, CanLII filed a copyright lawsuit against an AI company.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Riehl |first=Alex |date=2024-11-08 |title=Online legal database CanLII sues Caseway AI for copyright infringement {{!}} BetaKit |url=https://betakit.com/online-legal-database-canlii-sues-caseway-ai-for-alleged-copyright-infringement/ |access-date=2025-02-01 |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-08 |title=Major Canadian Legal Research Service Sues AI Startup Claiming Wrongful Use of Its Court Decisions {{!}} LawSites |url=https://www.lawnext.com/2024/11/major-canadian-legal-research-service-sues-ai-startup-claiming-wrongful-use-of-its-court-decisions.html |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=www.lawnext.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Legal organizations based in Canada
Category:Legal education in Canada
Category:Canadian case law
Category:Free Access to Law Movement
Category:Case law databases

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [CanLII](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CanLII) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CanLII?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.