[Editor’s note: John Bryans is a co-op student, completing his MLIS from Western University in August 2022. This is his final assignment at the Great Library.]
“[…] a lawyer, to be able to function competently, requires more than education: he requires books.” (Cameron Harvey – The Law Society of Manitoba 1877-1977)
Without question, the Old Law Courts building makes a statement. An imposing stone edifice, it evokes strength, rationality, solemnity. We have the feeling of being small within it. With its hidden alcoves and rooms that feel tucked away, the building embodies the at times abstruse nature of the law for those who are not familiar with its intricacies.
The Great Library though, is a soaring room. Designed to house all legal information, it suggests the expansive nature of jurisprudence and the vastness of legal knowledge. It was designed with practicality in mind, in that it could house all of the library’s legal textbooks and reporting series. But it was also designed to encourage study, to impress on visitors the gravity of a learned legal mind.
View of the Great Library and its blue ceiling, gilt detail, classical columns, and the iconic round table. (source: American Courthouses)
When I first met with Director of Legal Resources, Karen Sawatzky, at the Manitoba Law Library to discuss a co-op position as part of my Master of Library and Information Science program at Western, the building was the first thing that struck me. Despite being raised in Winnipeg, I had only set foot in the Old Law Courts building when I was very young, and never the Great Library. Seeing it for the first time, I was of course taken by its impressive beauty. The sky blue and gilt ceiling, the classical columns that line the room, the stately furniture. The room has personality.
Halfway into my semester at the Library, Karen shared with me some old paper documents from the library – old budget documents, minutes from meetings, and year-end reports. One of the reports, from 1987, talked about the reopening of the library after the major renovations to the Old Law Courts Building (in conjunction with the opening of the New Law Courts Building on York). Staff had been working in temporary offices and were relieved to be coming back to the Great Library. One of the final tasks in the renovation was covering the Library’s original metal shelving (still there to this day) using an electrostatic coating process that was described as “tortuously slow” in the report. Funny how time passes so slowly and so quickly.
Reading those old library documents made me think of all of the changes that have happened to the Great Library (and the Law Courts complex) over the years. Not long after staff moved back into the building, a technological revolution started with the introduction of a computer room in 1989. In 1990, the focus of special projects in the library was computerization, with the Manitoba Unreported Judgments project ensuring that each judgment rendered from 1978 onward was re-analyzed, coded, and entered into an online database. The end of the 20th century ushered in massive changes to the world, and the Great Library was swept up in the march of progress. But as Karen pointed out to me on that first visit I made to the Library, the printed word has not yet been made obsolete.
The library, too, continues to have new life breathed into it. The Old Law Courts Building has undergone many renaissances during its relatively short life, and the Great Library has played an important part in that.
In the next two installments of this three part series, I’ll take you on a tour of the history of the Manitoba Law Library and the Old Law Courts Building, and end with a conversation I had with facilities manager Martin Jandavs, about the renovations in the 1980s. I hope you’ll join me.
New articles from the following journals are now available for Law Society members upon request. For a pdf copy of these or other legal journal articles email us at library@lawsociety.mb.ca.
Canadian Family Law Quarterly. Vol. 40
Yousef Aly Wahb. Faith-Based Divorce Proceedings: Alternative Dispute Resolutions for Canadian Muslims
Stephanie Dickson, Melanie Battaglia. Child Support for Adult Children and Children with a Disability: The Impact of ODSP, the Disability Tax Credit, RDSP and RESP
Rachel Birnbaum, Nicholas Bala. High Conflict Parenting Cases and the Role of State-Funded Agencies in Ontario
Vanessa Lam. Determining the V-Date: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, When Can I Stop Sharing Property with You?
Intellectual Property Journal, Vol 34
Lindsay Paquette. Bill C-15 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A Proposal for Intellectual Property Law Reform in Canada for the Protection, Preservation and Prosperity of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expression.
Muhammand Zaheer Abbas. Revisiting Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime in Response to COVID-19: A Review of the Legislation and Its Underlying Objectives.
David Vaver. User Rights in Canadian Copyright Law.
Luca Vaez Tehrani. The Modern Library: Ramifications of Controlled Digital Lending on Copyright.
Aviv Gaon. Law and Reputation: How the Legal System Shapes Behavior by ProducingInformation, Roy Shapira (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2020).
Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law, Vol. 16
Steven Chaplin. Review of: Tom McDowell, Neoliberal Parliamentarism: The Decline of Parliament at the Ontario Legislature (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021)
Gregory Tardi. Election 44: Connecting the Dots
Charlie Feldman. Much Ado about Parliamentary Review
Gregory Tardi. Including Emerging Litigation Comprenant Les Litiges en Voie de Développement
Priya Dube. The Role of Law in Settling Political Disputes: York University v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright), 2021 SCC 32
Gregory Tardi. Review of: Stephen Breyer The Authority of the Court and the Perils of Politics (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2021)
Robin Ketcheson. Unwriting the Unwritten Principles of the Electoral System
Susan Keenan. Questions of Central Importance: The Supreme Court’s Diceyan Reserve
Jena Karim. Statecraft and Recognition of the Taliban: Crux of Taliban Governance and the Potential Impacts of Recognition
Professor Stephen I. Vladeck. Reforming the U.S. Supreme Court by Reforming Its Docket
Dr. Ronnie R. F. Yearwood. Barbados’ Transition to a Republic: ‘Republic in Name First, Constitutional Reform after’, ‘Stuff and Nonsense!’
J.W.J. Bowden. What’s in a Name? Newfoundland & Labrador and the Constitution Amendment, 2001
Caitlin Salvino. A Tool of the ‘Last Resort’: A Comprehensive Account of the Notwithstanding Clause Political Use from 1982-2021
Kioko Nzuki Mwania. The Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Culture in Kenya
Mohammad Pizuar Hossain. Repatriation of the Rohingya Refugees: Geopolitics and the Potential Role of the International Court of Justice
Dave Guénette. Recensement de: Christophe Parent L’État des Fédérations (Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2019) 2 Tomes
Julien Fournier. Recensement de: Yan Campagnolo Le Secret Ministériel. Théorie et Pratique (Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 2020)
McGill Law Journal, Vol. 66
Bethany Hastie. (Re)Discovering the Promise of Fraser? Labour Pluralism and Freedom of Association
Amitpal C. Singh. The Body as Me and Mine: The Case for Property Rights in Attached Body Parts
Marc-Antoine Gervais. Les Impasses Théoriques et Pratiques du Contrôle de Constitutionnalité Canadien
Daniele Bertolini. Unpacking Entire Agreement Clauses: On the (Elusive) Search for Contractually Induced Formalism in Contractual Adjudication
National Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 42
Professor René Provost. Remedies for Human Rights Violations–A Two-Track Approach to Supra-National and National Law (Cambridge University Press, 2021, xlix-581pp.)
Kent Roach. Principled versus Rule or Text-Based Discretion in Charter Remedies: Conseil Scolaire, Ontario (Attorney General) v. G and Albashir
Danielle Pinard. La Temporalité des Jugements D’inconstitutionnalité des Lois au Canada: Les Mesures D’atténuation Prises à L’égard de Leur Rétroactivité et de Leur Caractère Immédiatement Exécutoire
Ottawa Law Review, Vol. 51
Le Très Honorable Richard Wagner, C.P., The Right Honourable Richard Wagner, P.C., Juge en Chef du Canada , Chief Justice of Canada. Allocution du Récipiendaire de Doctorat Honorifique | Speech of the Recipient of the Honorary Doctorate
Paul Daly. Plural Public Law | Un Droit Public Pluriel
Nicolas Lambert. Effective Remediation in Public Procurement: Contract Damages versus Judicial Review
Mari Galloway. The Unwritten Constitutional Principles and Environmental Justice: A New Way Forward?
Maureen Irish. The Review of International Commercial Arbitral Awards and the New York Convention: Breaking the Link to Administrative Law
Isabel Grant, Crystal Choi, Debra Parkes. The Meaning of Life: A Study of the Use of Parole Ineligibility for Murder Sentencing
Jamie Cameron. The Tenth Justice: Judicial Appointments, Marc Nadon, and the Supreme Court Act Reference by Carissima Mathen & Michael Plaxton
Robert Hamilton, Joshua Nichols. Reconciliation and the Straitjacket: A Comparative Analysis of the Secession Reference and R v Sparrow
Andrew Leach. Environmental Policy is Economic Policy: Climate Change Policy and the General Trade and Commerce Power
Abra Martin. Mikisew Cree: A Lost Opportunity for Doctrinal Clarity on Constitutional Principles
Carys Craig, Ian Kerr. The Death of the AI Author
Stéphane Sérafin. Les Positivismes Juridiques Au XXe Siècle: Normativismes, Sociologismes, Réalismes de Maxime St-Hilaire
Hugo Tremblay. Perspectives Critiques Sur le Droit de l’Environnement Face à l’Anthropocène
Virginia Torrie. Aspiration and Reality in Legal Education de David Sandomierski
Gabriel Poliquin, Ph.D. LL.B. L’art de Juger de l’Honorable Louis LeBel, Sous la Direction de Bjarne Melkevik
Michel Morin. Le Secret Ministériel: Théorie et Pratique de Yan Campagnolo
Lori Hausegger, Troy Riddell. Judges on Judging in Canadian Appellate Courts: The Role of Legal and Extra-Legal Factors on Decision-Making
Léonid Sirota. Immuring Dicey’s Ghost: The Senate Reform Reference and Constitutional Conventions
Dan Priel. “That Is Not How the Common Law Works”: Paths to Tort Liability for Harassment
Kristen Thomasen. Robots, Regulation, and the Changing Nature of Public Space
Will Week is a week-long series of free public events to bring awareness to the importance of wills and estate planning. Seminars start Tuesday April 26, 2022. Visit the Library’s events calendar for session and registration information.
The event is a collaboration between the Manitoba Bar Association, The Winnipeg Foundation and the Public Guardian and Trustee. To learn more about Will Week, visit the Winnipeg Foundation website.
As part of this year’s Will Week, we have put together a digital book display using our collection of Wills, Estates, and Trusts texts.
To help you browse, we’ve compiled some of our most recent print titles, journal titles, and materials published by the Law Society of Manitoba into this virtual book display.
How to use this display
Click on the image of a title you’re interested in to view the catalog listing (includes the abstract and subject headings).
Our library catalog allows you to create a reading list and keep track of titles. Click “select” at the bottom left of the item’s catalog record. You can add as many titles as you like to your list and email or print it for future reference.
We hope you enjoy this digital book display!
Wills
The following print titles are available:
Drafting Wills in CanadaFeeney’s Canadian Law of WillsOosterhoff on WillsThe Law of Dependents’ Relief in CanadaCapacity and Undue InfluenceDrafting Trusts & Will Trusts in CanadaWills
We also subscribe to journals that exclusively cover the topics of Wills, Estates, and Trusts. Journal titles from HeinOnline Law Journal Library are available behind the Law Society Member Portal:
Estates Trusts and Pensions Journal (print – current to 2022; HeinOnline – available to 2018 online)
Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal (HeinOnline – vol. 1-14, 2008-2021)
The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD) has just announced a short-list of nominees for the 2022 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing. The award honours Hugh Lawford (1913-2009), Professor of Law at Queen’s University and the founder of Quicklaw.
The award is given to a publisher (whether for-profit or not-for profit, corporate or non-corporate) that has demonstrated excellence by publishing a work, series, website, or electronic product that makes a significant contribution to legal research and scholarship.
“A comprehensive and free guide sophisticated enough for specialist litigators, but also straightforward and understandable for law office staff, self-represented litigants, and the general public.”
LexisNexis for The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Canadian Law by Kevin P. McGuinness
“The definitions provided in this text are taken predominantly from both Canadian jurisprudence and statutes and also include important terms from pertinent related fields such as economics, sociology, political science, forensic medicine, science and engineering, business and accounting, and many others.”
Emond for Modern Criminal Evidence, Brian H. Greenspan and Vincenzo Rondinelli, General Editors.
“A truly practical and comprehensive guide to criminal evidence law in Canada that guides readers through evidentiary issues in all components of criminal law, providing insight from Crown, defence, and judicial perspectives.”LexisNexis for The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Canadian Law by Kevin P. McGuinness.
Our members also have access to Modern Criminal Evidence through our subscription to Emond’s Criminal Law series which can be accessed behind the Law Society Member Portal.
We would love to see a Manitoba guide to civil litigation and procedure published in collaboration with CanLII. On our wish list!
Winners will be announced at this year’s CALL/ACBD virtual conference May 31 – June 3, 2022
Congratulations and good luck to all of the nominees!
“Effective May 2, 2022, Judicial Justice of the Peace (JJP) dockets will resume sitting in person in the communities of Cross Lake, Gods Lake Narrows, Nelson House, Norway House, Oxford House, Shamattawa, and Split Lake.
In order to minimize the number of people attending court in person at one time, going forward, the JJP dockets will be divided alphabetically into morning and afternoon sittings.
Persons attending court prior to their designated time will be directed not to enter or remain in the vicinity of the court facility and will be instructed to return for their court appearance at the assigned time.”
See the full notice including designated sitting times here.
For all Provincial Court COVID-19 notices click here.
The Manitoba Law Library would like to acknowledge with gratitude that we are situated on Treaty One Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree and Dakota peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
Printing and Photocopying
If you need to use the library’s printing and photocopying services you will need to create an account. See us at the front desk for assistance.
Please note: The library will be closing early on Thursday, April 17th at 11:00AM for a special event. Regular library service will resume Tuesday, April 22nd at 8:30AM.
The Winnipeg Court Complex will be closed April 18th and April 21st. Manitoba Law Library staff will not be onsite during the holiday, but will be available by email on Monday, April 21st. Regular library service will resume Tuesday, April 22nd at 8:30AM.
Please note: The Winnipeg Law Courts will be closed April 18th and April 21st. The Library is closed Friday. Manitoba Law Library staff will be available by email on Monday, April 21st. Regular library service will resume Tuesday, April 22nd at 8:30AM.
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