
Decoding the Court: Legal Data Insights from the Supreme Court of Canada
Legal Data Insights from the Supreme Court of Canada
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 26. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
150 pages
978-1-032-24527-0 (ISBN)
Description
This edited collection combines state-of-the-art legal data analytics with in-depth doctrinal analysis to study the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), Canada's top court. A data analytics perspective adds new dimensions to the study of courts and their case law. It renders legal analysis scalable, making it possible to investigate thousands of judicial decisions, adding new breadth and depth. It also enables researchers to combine doctrinal questions about how the law evolves with institutional questions about how courts operate, shedding new light on how law works in practice. By applying a range of methods to study the content of SCC decisions, this work bridges the gap between qualitative and quantitative research. Demonstrating how new analytical perspectives can generate new insights about the Supreme Court, an institution which is closely studied by scholars both within and outside Canada, the book will be essential reading for legal scholars and political scientists, particularly those working in public law and in empirical legal studies.
The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Illustrations
6 s/w Tabellen, 29 s/w Zeichnungen, 29 s/w Abbildungen
6 Tables, black and white; 29 Line drawings, black and white; 29 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
211 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-24527-0 (9781032245270)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Wolfgang Alschner | Vanessa MacDonnell | Carissima Mathen
Decoding the Court: Legal Data Insights from the Supreme Court of Canada
Legal Data Insights from the Supreme Court of Canada
Book
05/2024
1st Edition
Routledge
€73.50
Shipment within 10-20 days

Wolfgang Alschner | Vanessa MacDonnell | Carissima Mathen
Decoding the Court: Legal Data Insights from the Supreme Court of Canada
E-Book
05/2024
1st Edition
Routledge
€20.49
Available for download

Wolfgang Alschner | Vanessa MacDonnell | Carissima Mathen
Decoding the Court: Legal Data Insights from the Supreme Court of Canada
E-Book
05/2024
1st Edition
Routledge
€20.49
Available for download
Persons
Wolfgang Alschner is Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, where he leads the Legal Technology Lab.
Vanessa MacDonnell is Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and Co-Director of the uOttawa Public Law Centre.
Carissima Mathen is a Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Canada.
Vanessa MacDonnell is Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and Co-Director of the uOttawa Public Law Centre.
Carissima Mathen is a Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Canada.
Editor
University of Ottawa, Canada
The uOttawa Public Law Centre, Canada
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Canada.
Content
Contents
Introduction
Wolfgang Alschner, Vanessa MacDonnell & Carissima Mathen
Chapter 1: A Bird's-Eye View of the Canadian Supreme Court
Wolfgang Alschner & Keenan MacNeal
Part One - Evolution of the Court
Chapter 2: Four Stories About Canada's Separation of Powers Doctrine
Vanessa MacDonnell & Keenan MacNeal
Chapter 3: Using Network Citation Analysis to Reveal Precedential Archetypes at the Supreme Court of Canada
Wolfgang Alschner & Isabelle St-Hilaire
Part Two: Cleavages on the Court
Chapter 4: Navigating Judicial Disagreement
Carissima Mathen, Keenan MacNeal, Stephen Bindman & Kelley Humber
Chapter 5: Bilingualism at the Supreme Court of Canada: Quantifying Citations to English, French, and Bilingual Doctrinal Sources
Terry Skolnik & Keenan MacNeal
Part Three: Changing Judicial Practice
Chapter 6: The Supreme Court of Canada Leave Project: A Dataset and Machine Learning Model for Predicting Leave Application Outcomes
Paul-Erik Veel & Katie Glowach
Chapter 7: The Supreme Court of Canada and Mainstreamed Judicial Analytics
Jena McGill & Amy Salyzyn
Introduction
Wolfgang Alschner, Vanessa MacDonnell & Carissima Mathen
Chapter 1: A Bird's-Eye View of the Canadian Supreme Court
Wolfgang Alschner & Keenan MacNeal
Part One - Evolution of the Court
Chapter 2: Four Stories About Canada's Separation of Powers Doctrine
Vanessa MacDonnell & Keenan MacNeal
Chapter 3: Using Network Citation Analysis to Reveal Precedential Archetypes at the Supreme Court of Canada
Wolfgang Alschner & Isabelle St-Hilaire
Part Two: Cleavages on the Court
Chapter 4: Navigating Judicial Disagreement
Carissima Mathen, Keenan MacNeal, Stephen Bindman & Kelley Humber
Chapter 5: Bilingualism at the Supreme Court of Canada: Quantifying Citations to English, French, and Bilingual Doctrinal Sources
Terry Skolnik & Keenan MacNeal
Part Three: Changing Judicial Practice
Chapter 6: The Supreme Court of Canada Leave Project: A Dataset and Machine Learning Model for Predicting Leave Application Outcomes
Paul-Erik Veel & Katie Glowach
Chapter 7: The Supreme Court of Canada and Mainstreamed Judicial Analytics
Jena McGill & Amy Salyzyn