# What is the convention for referring to Canadian federal court cases?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-convention-for-referring-to-canadian-federal-court-cases/249899>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 11, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-convention-for-referring-to-canadian-federal-court-cases/249899 "2004-06-11T23:29:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-convention-for-referring-to-canadian-federal-court-cases/249899/1 "2004-06-11T23:29:30Z")

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Simple question, but unfortunately I’ve heard this pronounced differently.

Let’s take the case titled “R v. Edwards.”

I’ve heard people pronounce it as “Are v. Edwards,” “The Queen v. Edwards” and “The Crown v. Edwards.” It seems to me that “The Crown” is most likely to be correct, but I’m not sure.

Simple question, simple answer, right?

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-convention-for-referring-to-canadian-federal-court-cases/249899/2 "2004-06-11T23:42:07Z")

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As far as I can find online, it’s “Edwards v Canada”, although I’m happy to be corrected

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-convention-for-referring-to-canadian-federal-court-cases/249899/3 "2004-06-12T04:52:58Z")

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> [@Ace309](#):
>
> Let’s take the case titled “R v. Edwards.”

Actually, that should be “R.”, with a period there. It stands for “Rex”, Latin for ‘The King’ or ‘The Queen’, or even ‘The Crown’ (to use a gender-neutral term). [Why they would bother to abbreviate a 3-letter word is beyond me.]

But I think GorillaMan is correct; the current usage is to say “Canada” in such cases.

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**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-convention-for-referring-to-canadian-federal-court-cases/249899/4 "2004-06-12T08:09:18Z")

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> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#):
>
> Actually, that should be “R.”, with a period there. It stands for “Rex”, Latin for ‘The King’ or ‘The Queen’, or even ‘The Crown’ (to use a gender-neutral term). [Why they would bother to abbreviate a 3-letter word is beyond me.]

“R.” currently stands for “Regina” [six letters]