Political Science Research Guide: Statutes & Regulations

Bill: Initial legislative proposal which passes through several stages before becoming law

Statute: Another name for an act or law. The Statutes of Manitoba are a collection of Manitoba laws.

Regulation: Detailed information about how an act is to be carried out. The act or statute will be the general over-arching information, while the regulation will go into the finer points of the legislation for the respective act.

Manitoba

• CANLII: Statutes and Regulations of Manitoba 
  Searchable and Browseable listing of Statutes and Regulations in Manitoba.

Canada

• Department of Justice 
  Federal site that allows you to search and browse both Statutes and Regulations.
   
• CANLII 
  CanLII makes it easy to locate both Federal and Provincial Regulations.  Simply select the Relevant Database on the Left (e.g. Federal, Manitoba, etc), and then select Legislation - Statutes and Regulations.  At this point you will see their Consolidated Listing of Regulations for the particular area you have selected.
   
• LEGISINFO  Search for Legislation currently before Parliament

United States

• GPO Access: Public and Private Laws: 1995-Present
  Allows you to locate U.S. Laws from 1995-Present
   
• Statutes at Large: Public and Private Laws:  1789-1875
  Allows you to locate U.S. Laws from 1789-1875.  Laws for 1876-1994 presently unavailable.  Statutes at Large also includes the text of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, amendments to the Constitution, treaties with Indians and foreign nations, and presidential proclamations.
   
• Federal Register  
  Official daily publication for Rules, Proposed Rules and Notices of federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents of the Federal government.
   
• Code of Federal Regulations 
  GPO Access website contains the text of public regulations used by the agencies of the federal government. Use the Federal Register to locate proposed and recently issued regulations.
   
• Federal Agencies and Departments   
  Links provided by the National Federation of Paralegals to many federal agencies and departments that create and enforce the rules and regulations that make up federal administrative law