The Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada’s Style Guide

A. Introduction

1. The Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (the CMAC) is sharing the following Style Guide for information purposes. Parties are encouraged to follow the Style Guide, but its use is not mandatory.

2. Generally, the CMAC follows the 9th edition of the McGill Law Journal’s Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide), with some exceptions.

B. References to legislation

3. If applicable, reproduce excerpts of bilingual Acts, Rules and Regulations in a two-column table with no borders. Place the excerpt that is in the language of the document in the left column.

4. Refer to legislative provisions as follows:

• section 56
• subsection 56(1)
• paragraph 56(1)(a)
• subparagraph 56(1)(a)(i)
• clause 56(1)(a)(i)(B)
• subclause 56(1)(a)(i)(B)(VI)

5. Exception to the McGill Guide: When citing legislation in French, abbreviate the word chapitre as “ch.”.

6. If using a short form to refer to a piece of legislation:

• provide the short form in parentheses after the full reference;
• italicize the short form, except for the short form “Charter”, which is not italicized; and
• do not use periods in the short form.

For example:
National Defence Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. N-5 (NDA)

C. Case law citations

7. Follow this hierarchy for citations:

• Neutral citations
• Official paper reporters (e.g. S.C.R., F.C.R., Ex. C.R.)
• Free online databases (e.g. CanLII)
• Bilingual unofficial reporters (e.g. N.R.)
• Unilingual unofficial reporters (e.g. D.L.R., R.J.Q.)
• Paid subscription databases (e.g. Carswell, QL)

8. If a neutral citation exists, include a parallel citation only if it is to a bilingual reporter, and then give preference to the official reporter. For example: Huruglica v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2016 FCA 93, [2016] 4 F.C.R. 157; Canada (Attorney General) v. Wannamaker, 2007 FCA 126, 361 N.R. 266.

9. If no neutral citation exists, include a main citation and a parallel citation. For example: R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., [1985] 1 S.C.R. 295, 1985 CanLII 69.

10. References to unilingual reporters are used only if they match the language of the decision. For example, the English version of a decision may cite CanLII and D.L.R., but the French version would cite CanLII only.

11. In French, use the abbreviation “c.” which stands for the word contre in the style of cause, e.g. R. c. J.L..

12. When using a pinpoint citation, place it after the citation of the decision from which the pinpoint is taken, which should be the main citation where possible. For example: R. v. Généreux, [1992] 1 S.C.R. 259 at 293, 1992 CanLII 117.

13. Exception to the McGill Guide: Keep the periods in citations, including in:

• names of the parties (if abbreviated or appearing as initials, e.g. R. v. J.L.)
• style of cause (v.)
• abbreviated reporters (e.g. S.C.R.)
• abbreviated pinpoint markers (e.g. at para. / n. / ...)
• indicator of jurisdiction and court level (if not clear from the citation) (e.g. … 2000 CanLII 26941 (AB C.A.))

14. Exception to the McGill Guide: Use the following abbreviations for pinpoints:

15. Do not abbreviate the words “section”, “paragraph”, “page”, etc. in the body of the text.

16. When introducing shortened case names, do so in square brackets and use italics, immediately after the full citation. For example:
Canada (Director of Military Prosecutions) v. Canada (Office of the Chief Military Judge), 2020 FC 330, [2020] 3 F.C.R. 411 [Dutil].

D. Military terms

1. Military ranks

17. Write out the rank in full when using it for the first time in the text and then insert the abbreviation in parentheses after.

18. Follow the spelling (e.g. hyphens and superscript) of military ranks and abbreviations as noted in Appendix A.

19. Do not place a period after the abbreviated rank.

20. Follow the rules regarding military ranks and titles as set out in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces Manual of Abbreviations. Note: chief military judge and military judge are titles.

2. Particularities according to the language used

21. In English and French, the abbreviation of a military rank or title is always capitalized when it accompanies the name of the person.

22. In English and French, when a rank or title is used without a name, write it out in full.

23. In English, capitalize military ranks and position titles when they refer to a particular person. When they do not, use lowercase.

24. In English, the plural is formed by adding an “s” to the end of the abbreviation, no matter where it appears in the full term. In French, abbreviations are never pluralized.

25. In French, when not referring to a particular military member, the rank or position title is in lower case.

3. Queen’s Regulations and Orders (QR&O)

26. When referring to the QR&O for the first time, write the full title as provided in QR&O article 1.01 (Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces) and then use the abbreviation provided in QR&O article 1.01 (QR&O).

4. Abbreviations

27. For abbreviations, introduce the abbreviated term in parentheses after the full term. Do not use periods in abbreviated terms and do not italicize them. For example:

• Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)
• Code of Service Discipline (CSD)
• Defence Administrative Orders and Directives (DAOD)

28. In French, do not use accents on capitalized letters of abbreviations, except for abbreviations of provinces and cities.

29. Refer to the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces Manual of Abbreviations for abbreviations of military terms.

5. References to the CMAC and to court martial terms

30. In English, capitalize each word when writing the following terms in full: “General Court Martial” and “Standing Court Martial”. When referring to “court martial” more generically, use lowercase. Do not abbreviate these terms.

31. When referring to the “Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada” for the first time, write the full name. Use the abbreviation “CMAC” afterwards and do not include a “C” for “Canada”.

APPENDIX A - Military ranks and abbreviations

ANNEXE A - Grades militaires et abréviations