Law: Referencing

Examples of how to reference in law examinations:

• Cases Name of Case (Year) e.g. Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton (2021)
• Legislation Title of Legislation Year e.g. Human Rights Act 1998
• Books (Author, Short Title of Book Year) e.g. (Bradney, How to Study Law 2021)
• Articles (Author, 'Short Title of Article' Year) e.g. (Carr, 'Women in Commercial Law' 2020)

The Law School's current guidance on examinations states:

• The word limit applies to the aggregate number of words used to answer all questions, and reflects the specified time set for the exam within the 24-hour period. It excludes footnotes/references, but footnotes/references will not be marked, and you will not be given credit for them. The limit is an upper bound on your wordcount and not a target. In answering all required questions, you may write less if you wish. As with any normal exam, you should put citations of authorities and names of authors in the main body of your answer text if you wish to gain credit for them. You are allowed to access module materials, notes, resources, references and the Internet.
• You are not required to use footnotes or include a bibliography. You should include a treaty/ statutory provision or case name for any legal proposition you reference. You do not need to provide the full case citation If you are using a direct quote from a source, you must use quotation marks (see Academic Integrity). It is sufficient to merely state the author of the quote, an abbreviated source and a date. All references should be made in brackets in the body of the essay.

Footnotes

OSCOLA is a footnote referencing style. With footnote referencing, numbered footnote markers (superscript numbers) are inserted into your text, normally at the end of your sentence, immediately after the full-stop.¹ You can position footnote markers within your sentence if it improves clarity, e.g. after a semi-colon;² or comma,³ or after a Case Name. The reference is written in a corresponding numbered footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnote is closed with a full-stop. 

Insert footnotes

Most word processing software includes footnote referencing functionality. In Microsoft Word, click on the 'References' menu, and then 'Insert Footnote'. Refer to your word processing software’s help pages for further information.

How to Insert Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word.

Multiple references

• A single footnote may include more than one reference. All references should be separated with a semi-colon (;).
• List primary sources (legislation and case law) before secondary sources (books and articles), and legislation before case law.
• If you have more than one reference of the same type, list them chronologically, with the oldest one first. 

When not to footnote

If you state the full title and year (and section where appropriate) of legislation in the main body of your text, you do not need to repeat the information in a footnote. Omit the footnote entirely but include the full reference in the Table of Authorities.

If you state the full name of the case in the main body of your text, you only need to include the case citations in the footnote. Omit the case name from the footnote, but include the citations only. Include the full reference in the Table of Authorities.

Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of sources or references cited in the work. OSCOLA requires a bibliography only for longer works i.e. monographs and dissertations/theses, not shorter works i.e. journal articles or essays. At law school, it is common practice to include a bibliography at the end of an essay. Please check your assessment guidance for further information.

With OSCOLA, the bibliography is split into two section: Table of Authorities (for primary sources) and Bibliography (for secondary sources). Generally, references are copied and pasted from the footnotes to the bibliography, although some minor formatting may also be required.

Table of Authorities

A Table of Authorities is a list of primary sources (legislation and case law) cited in the work. Normally there is a Table of Cases and a Table of Legislation. There may be additional tables depending on the length of work, and volume and types of sources cited.

In the Table of Cases, cases are listed in A-Z order by party name. Copy and paste the reference (case name and citations) from the footnote to the table. Remove any italics from the case name, any pinpoints for quoted pages/paragraphs, and the full-stop at the end of the reference.

In the Table of Legislation, list all Acts/Statutes in A-Z order by title, and then all Statutory Instruments in A-Z order by title. Copy and paste the references from the footnote to the table. Remove any italics from the legislation name, any pinpoints for quoted section numbers, and the full-stop at the end of the reference.

If you have cited legislation or case law from other jurisdictions, you should separate references by jurisdiction, and list international materials first, followed by regional materials i.e. European Union, and then by each national jurisdiction i.e. United Kingdom. If you have a large number of references, you may wish to have a separate table for each jurisdiction.

Bibliography

The bibliography is a list of secondary sources (books, journals and other commentary) cited in the work. There is only one bibliography, and references are listed in A-Z order by author's surname. You do not need to organise the bibliography into sections by material type unless otherwise instructed in your assessment guidance.

In the bibliography, copy and paste the references from the footnote to the bibliography. Invert the authors' name: from first name last name format, to last name initial format. Remove any pinpoints for quoted pages/paragraphs, and the full-stop at the end of the reference. Keep the italic font in the book or journal titles.

Authors

Personal authors (a person) should be presented as First Name Surname in the footnote e.g. Jackie Hanes, and Surname, Initials in the bibliography e.g. Hanes, J  OSCOLA uses little punctuation and there are no periods after or between initials.

Corporate authors (an organisation) should be presented as the full name of the organisation, in both footnotes and the bibliography e.g. University of Warwick.

Titles and postnominals

Give the author's name as it appears in the publication, including for judges, but omit titles e.g. Lord/Lady or Sir/Dame and postnominals e.g. QC/KC.

Multiple authors

If citing between 1 and 3 authors, you should list all authors names, in the order listed on the source, in both the footnotes and the bibliography.

• One author: Smith (2022)
• Two authors: Smith and Jones (2022)
• Three authors: Smith, Jones and Patel (2022)

If citing 4 or more authors names, you should list only the first author's name, followed by words 'and others'. Do not use et al.

• Four authors +: Patel and others (2022)

Editors

Some sources have an editor instead of, or as well as, an author. If citing an editor, include the abbreviation ed (for a single editor) or eds (for multiple editors) in round brackets, after the editor(s) name(s) e.g. Jackie Hanes (ed) or Hanes, J (ed).

Quotations

• Short quotations, up to 3 lines of text, should be incorporated into your text, within 'single quotation marks'. 
• Longer quotations, over 3 lines of text, should be presented in an indented paragraph, without quotation marks.

Page numbers

All direct quotations and paraphrasing should be referenced by a footnote, including the page, paragraph or section number(s) of the original source at the end of the footnote. OSCOLA uses limited page number signals: if citing a book, book chapter or report, the page number(s) stand alone at the end of the footnote (do not use p. or pp. or at). If citing a journal article or law report, where the reference ends with the first page number, you should separate the numbers with a comma i.e. first page, quoted page.

Subsequent Citations

The first time a source is cited, it should be referenced in full, normally in a footnote. If the source is cited again, the subsequent references can be abbreviated, using either ibid or a short form and cross-reference. You are advised to leave ibids and short forms until your work is finished, as the numbering of footnotes may change during editing, and may lead to incorrect cross-references.

Ibid

Ibid is an abbreviation of the Latin ibidem, meaning 'in the same place'. In referencing it is used to refer to the immediately preceding footnote. If you cite a source, and then cite the same source in the very next footnote, you can use 'ibid' in place of the full reference. If you are citing the same source, but at a different page number, simply add a comma after ibid and then the new page number.

Short Form

Short forms and cross-references are used to reference to other previous footnotes, where they are not immediately preceding. If you cite a source, and then cite the same source later in your work, you can use a short form and cross reference to the original footnote.

For books and articles, the short form is normally the author's surname. For case law, the short form is normally the first party name, in italics. The short form is followed by the letter 'n' and a number in (round brackets) e.g. Smith (n 5). N is an abbreviation for footnote number, and the number is the number of the footnote containing the original full reference. If you are citing the same source, but at a different page number, simply add the new page number to the end of the reference.

Secondary Referencing

Full reference of Secondary Source (as cited in Full reference of Primary Source, Page)

• Benjamin Bowing, Violent Racism: Victimization, Policing, and Social Context. (OUP 1998) (as cited in Steve Case and others (eds), The Oxford Textbook on Criminology (2nd edn, OUP 2012) 212).

If you are reading a source, and it mentions another source, you may wish to cite the other source in your work.

The best academic practice is to find and read the original source and then cite it directly. If you are unable to find the original source, you can cite it indirectly, 'as cited in', another source. This practice of indirect citation is known as secondary referencing.

The primary source is the one you have read; the secondary source is the one you have read about. You should cite the full reference of both sources in your footnote, but only the primary source in your bibliography. Be careful, as this practice will create very long footnotes, which take words from your word count.

Case with a neutral citation

Case Name | Neutral Citation, | Law Report Citation

Case Name | [Year] Court-Abbreviation Case-Number, | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page

After 2001, cases were assigned a neutral citation, in addition to their law report citation, which identifies the case by year, court and case number.

Footnote:

• Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783.

Footnote with page [paragraph] number (and judge):

• Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783, 790.
• Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783 [4].
• Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783 [177] (Burrows JSC).

Footnote if full case name stated in main body of text:

• [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783.

Table of Authorities:

• Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783

Case without a neutral citation

Case Name | Law Report Citation (Court-Abbreviation)

Case Name | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page (Court-Abbreviation)

Before 2001, cases were identified by the law report citation and an abbreviation for the court.

Footnote:

• Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA).

Footnote with page number (and judge):

• Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA) 708.
• Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA) 714 (Butler-Sloss LJ).

Footnote if full case name stated in main body of text:

• [1998] QB 686 (CA).

Table of Authorities:

• Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA)

EU Treaties

Legislation Title | [Year] OJ | Issue/First-Page

Footnote:

• Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13.

Footnote with article number:

• Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13, art 19.

Footnote if subsequently referring to Act with abbreviation:

• Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13, art 19 (Schengen Agreement 2000).

Table of Authorities:

• Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13

EU Regulations, Directives etc

Legislation Type | Number | Legislation Title | [Year] | OJ | Issue/First-Page

Footnote:

• Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1.

Footnote with article number:

• Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1, art 5.

Footnote if subsequently referring to legislation with abbreviation:

• Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1, art 5 (GDPR 2016).

Table of Authorities:

• Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1

CJEU Case

Case Number | Case Name | ECLI Citation, | Law Report Citation

Case Number | Case Name | Jurisdiction:Court:Year:Case-Number, | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page

After 2011, EU cases were assigned a uniform citation (European Case Law Identifier or ECLI), in addition to their law report citation, which identifies the case by jurisdiction/country, court, year, and case number. ECLI citations are not covered in the OSCOLA 4th edition, but are included in the OSCOLA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and are expected to feature in the next edition of OSCOLA.

Footnote:

• Case C-311/18) Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14.

Footnote with page [paragraph] number:

• Case C-311/18) Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14, 502.
• Case C-311/18) Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14, para 55.

Footnote if full case name stated in main body of text:

• EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14.

Table of Authorities:

Case Name | (Number) | ECLI Citation, | Law Report Citation

• Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems (C-311/18) EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14

In the Table of Authorities, the order of case name and case number are reversed, to aid alphabetical ordering of the list of cases.

ECtHR Case

Case Name | Law Report Citation

Case Name | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page

Footnote:

• Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7.

Footnote with page [paragraph] number:

• Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7, 319.
• Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7 [109].

Footnote if full case name stated in main body of text:

• (2020) 71 EHRR 7.

Table of Authorities:

• Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7

Unreported cases

Case Name | App no Number/Year | (ECtHR, Judgment Date)

Footnote:

• Lopez Ribalda v Spain App no 1874/13 (ECtHR, 19 October 2019).

Table of Authorities:

• Lopez Ribalda v Spain App no 1874/13 (ECtHR, 19 October 2019)

If a case is unreported in an official series of law reports, you can cite the judgment using the application number, court and judgment date.

International Treaties

The referencing rules for international law materials are covered in a separate OSCOLA: Citing International Law guide.

Where possible, cite from the official international treaty series in preference to others i.e. UNTS (United National Treaty Series) CTS (Consolidated Treaty Series) or LNTS (League of Nations Treaty Series). Otherwise cite from national official treaty series e.g. UKTS (United Kingdom Treaty Series) or other international treaty series. 

Multilateral treaties

Treaty Title | (adopted Date | entered into force Date) | Volume | Treaty Series | First-Page (Abbreviation)

Footnote:

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (adopted 19 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW).

Footnote with article number:

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (adopted 19 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW) art 15.

Table of Authorities:

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (adopted 19 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW)

For multi-lateral treaties, state the adopted (signature) date, and the entered into force date. This information is commonly available from the UNTC Online website, and the FLARE Index to Treaties.

Bilateral treaties

Treaty Title | (Parties-To-Treaty) (adopted Date, entered into force Date) | Volume | Treaty Series | First-Page (Abbreviation)

Footnote:

• Security Treaty Between Australia and New Zealand and the United States (adopted 1 September 1951, entered into force 29 April 1952) 1952 ATS 2 (ANZUS).
• Free Trade Agreement Between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Australia (16-17 December 2021) CP 689.

If the parties to bilateral treaties are not given in the treaty title, then state them in (round brackets) after the title. Adopted and in-force dates should be given where available. Bilateral treaties may be published in national treaty series, in the above examples in the Australian Treaty Series (ATS) and as a Command Paper (CP) for the UK treaty.

International Cases

The referencing rules for international law materials are covered in a separate OSCOLA: Citing International Law guide.

Cite International Court of Justice cases from the official International Court of Justice Reports (ICJ Rep) series. For other international courts, cite from an authoritative law reports series such as the International Law Reports (ILR).

International Court of Justice

Case Name | ICJ Law Report Citation

Case Name | [Year] ICJ Rep First-Page

Footnote:

• Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand intervening) [2014) ICJ Rep 226.

Footnote with page number:

• Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand intervening) [2014) ICJ Rep 226, 236.

Footnote if full case name stated in main body of text:

• [2014) ICJ Rep 226.

Table of Authorities:

• Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand intervening) [2014) ICJ Rep 226

Other International Courts

Case Name | Law Report Citation

Case Name | [(Year)] | Volume | Law-Report-Abbreviation | First-Page

• Law Society of South Africa and Others v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others (2020) 185 ILR 313.

Encyclopaedias

Title of Encyclopaedia (Edition edn, Year) vol Volume, para Paragraph

• Halsbury's Laws of England (5th edn, 2014) vol 20, para 32.

Author, 'Title of Article', Title of Encyclopaedia (Date) <web address> accessed Accessed-Date

• Tom Brett Young, 'British Citizenship', Westlaw Edge UK Overview (7 March 2018) <https://uk.westlaw.com/> accessed 1 September 2022.

Encyclopaedias are commonly referenced by title, volume and paragraph number. If the author and article title are known, you can include them at the start of the reference, and it will more closely follow the referencing rules for book chapters. 

If the encyclopaedia is published online only, and the article does not have volume and paragraph numbers, then include the web address and accessed date at the end of the reference.

Journal articles

Author, ‘Article Title’ Citation

The journal article citation is expressed as: ([Year]) Volume Journal-Abbreviation First-Page 

• Sue Carr, ‘Women in Commercial Law’ [2020] JBL 91. 
• Christopher McCrudden, ‘Legal Research and the Social Sciences’ (2006) 122 LQR 632. 

Legal abbreviations are normally stated in the journal, but if unknown, please refer to the Cardiff Index of Legal Abbreviations.

If the journal does not have a legal abbreviation, use the full title of the journal instead.

The year is normally in (round brackets), but where journals do not have volume numbers, the year should be in [square brackets].

Online journal articles

For most ejournals, follow the general rules for referencing print journal articles. Some journals are published online only, and articles do not have page numbers. For online only journals, include the web address and accessed date at the end of the reference.

Author, ‘Title of Article’ Citation <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date 

• India Thusi, 'Blue Lives and the Permanence of Racism' (2020) 105 Cornell L Rev <https://www.cornelllawreview.org/2020/03/03/blue-lives-the-permanence-of-racism/> accessed 1 September 2022.

Newspaper articles

Author, ‘Title of Article’, Title of Newspaper (Place, Publication-Date) First-Page 

• Matt Datham, 'Human Rights Overhaul Set to Limit Power of European Judges', The Times (London, 22 June 2022) 1.

Online newspaper articles

Author, ‘Title of Article’, Title of Newspaper (Place, Publication-Date) <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date 

• Haroon Siddique, 'What Would a British Bill of Rights Look Like?', The Guardian (London, 21 June 2022) <https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/jun/21/what-would-a-british-bill-of-rights-look-like> accessed 1 September 2022.

Websites

Author, Title of Website (Publication-Date) <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date 

• Equality and Human Rights Commission, University Periodic Review of Great Britain (27 April 2022) <https://equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/universal-periodic-review-great-britain> accessed 1 September 2022.

The referencing rules for websites can be adapted for other types of media including government publications, official reports and statistics, and audio-visual materials like films, documentaries, and YouTube videos.

There are specific referencing rules for parliamentary papers including Bills, Command Papers and Hansard Debates. Please refer to the full OSCOLA referencing guide for further information.

Blogs posts

Author, ‘Title of Blog Post’ (Title of Blog, Publication-Date) <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date 

• David Allen Green, 'A First Glance at the Bill of Rights Bill' (The Law and Policy Blog, 22 June 2022) <https://davidallengreen.com/2022/06/a-first-glance-at-the-bill-of-rights-bill/> accessed 1 September 2022.

The referencing rules for blog posts can be adapted for other types of serialised media including episodes of television and radio programmes, and podcasts.

Theses

Author, 'Title of Thesis' (Award, Awarding Body Year)

• Martha Gayoye, 'The Role of the Judiciary in Constitution Making: The Two-Thirds Gender Principle in Kenya' (DPhil thesis, University of Warwick 2020).

Conference papers

Author, 'Title of Paper' (Title of Conference, Place, Date)

• Stephanie Hare, 'Digital Ethics' (British and Irish Association of Law Librarians, Wyboston Lakes, 7 July 2022).

Lecture materials

The referencing rules for conference papers can be adapted for other types of public lecture. They can also be adapted for lectures delivered as part of taught modules, although you should generally avoid citing your lecturers or teaching materials.

• Alex Sharpe, 'Flirting with Fascism: The Thin White Duke, Art and Ethical Limits' (University of Warwick, 4 February 2021) <https://youtu.be/dndz5K3-caQ> accessed 1 September 2022.
• Serena Natile, 'Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights' (LA346: Gender and the Law, University of Warwick 2021).