Minutes of the February 10, 2004 conference call

The teleconference was chaired by Fr�d�ric Pelletier and began at 12:05, Montreal time.

The following members were present: Suzan Baer, Edna Brewster, Anne L. Chesnutt, Michael Cowle, Diane Lutes, Jennifer Jordan, Lucie Lagu�, Rick Leech, Denis Le May, Jane McDonald, Daniel Poulin, Ruth Rintoul and Elizabeth M.A. Turgeon.

The agenda was as follows:
1- Introduction to new members;
2- Contents of a consultation document for case naming;
3- Varia.

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1- Introducing New Members

Since our last conference call, new members have accepted to join the Committee. Three more major Canadian case law publishers are now represented by:

• Elizabeth M.A. Turgeon, Senior Editor at Maritime Law Book;
• Lucie Lagu�, Analyst Editor at CCH Canadian;
• Michael Cowle, Legal Editor at Canada Law Book.

Louise Hamel, Manager of the Ontario Courts Judges' Library, has also accepted to join, altough she was not available for today's meeting.

We welcome our new members and hope they enjoy their membership.

2- Contents of a Consultation Document for Case Naming

The Committee reached an agreement about the purpose of the new standard:

• The document will mainly aim at providing courts and tribunals with a set of guidelines allowing for the creation of the "short style of cause" element, which is part of the neutral citation;
• The guidelines will be simple enough so as to be easy to apply, but detailed enough as to ensure optimal consistency among courts and tribunals;
• The guidelines will be drafted in line with the most common current practices of publishers of case law;
• While the publishers should remain able to name cases according to what they see fit with regard to their particular users' needs, the guidelines will not require mandatory application for publishers of case law.

A consultative document will be drafted by a sub-committee in which Suzan, Jane, Ruth, Elizabeth, Rick and Fr�d�ric have volunteered to participate. Fr�d�ric will coordinate the work. Among other things, this sub-committee will look at other standards regarding case naming or title creation in general, including ISO standards and current publishers' practices. The document will be submitted to all CCC members prior to distribution among other Canadian case law stakeholders.

3- Varia

Due to lack of time after his promotion as CEO of Commonwealth Legal, Martin Felsky recently resigned from our Committee. In the name of the Canadian Citation Committee members, Daniel wished Martin the best with his new position. Daniel also expressed the Committee's gratitude towards Martin's dedication over years as he sought to improve the use of information technology in the Canadian court system. The Committee thanks Martin very much for his great contribution and will continue to seek his advice in the future.

***

The time of our next conference call will be determined later. A call for availabity will be posted on the mailing list in time.

The meeting ended at 12:50.

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