National Law University, Odisha

Course: Legal Methods

08c: Citation Formats

Abhik Majumdar
 Footnoting Styles

● Blue Book (Harvard University)

● Red Book (McGill University, Canada)
● Maroon Book (University of Chicago)
● OSCOLA (Oxford University)
 Harvard Blue Book

● Most widely used

● Criticised for being complicated
● E-copy not available
● Photocopies of older editions available in the
library
● Some cheatsheets available
 Citations

● Citations can be either general or pinpoint

● General Citation – reference to a particular
work (case, article, book etc.)
● Pinpoint Citation – reference to a specific
location (page, para etc.) within a particular
work.
 Citing Cases
● General rule – Name of case, followed by comma, then
the citation.
● Case names in the main body need to be italicised
● In footnotes, case names should not be italicised
● Exceptions:
– When used in textual sentences in footnote
– When short form of case name is used
● Short form can be used when full citation of case has
been stated within five preceding footnotes
● Comma after italicised case name should not be
italicised
 Pinpoint cite

● When case is referred to for the first time, then name

of case, complete citation including starting page
number, followed by “at”, then pinpoint information
– Donoghue v. Stevenson, 1932 All E.R. Rep. 1
at 5.
● When the case has been referred to earlier, then
starting page number can be omitted:
– See Donoghue, 1932 All E.R. Rep. at 5.
Prescribed Formats for Case Reports

When citing cases, please adhere to the

formats given in the following examples:

● A.I.R. 1963 S.C. 210

● 1982 (3) S.C.R. 40
● (1995) 4 S.C.C. 70
● (1970) 3 All E.R. 529
● 1932 All E.R. Rep. 1
● 1924 All E.R. Rep. Ext. 79
 Journal and other Articles

● Name of author(s), Title of the article (in

italics), vol. no., NAME OF JOURNAL (IN SMALL
CAPS), starting page, (year of publication) .

● H.L.A. Hart and L.L. Fuller, Positivism and the

Separation of Law and Morals, 71 HARV. L.
REV. 593 (1958) at 601.
(NB: the above citation is only for illustrative
purposes, and is not completely accurate)
 Books

● AUTHOR NAME, TITLE <no comma> page

number (year)
● H.L.A. HART, THE CONCEPT OF LAW 32 (1961).
●
H.L.A. HART, THE CONCEPT OF LAW 32 (2nd ed.
1994).
● H.L.A. HART & L.L. FULLER, THE CONCEPT OF
nd
LAW 32 (2 ed. 1994).
●
 Internet Sources
● ALWAYS precede URL with some source information.
● Source information should be cited in a similar
manner to articles:
● e.g. Name of Author, Name of Article, NAME OF
WEBSITE (year of publication), URL.
● Leslie Green, Legal Positivism, STANFORD
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY (2003),
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/legal-positivism/
● Always remove underlining from URL
● For material that is also available in print, add url with
‘available at’
● J. Venkatesan, Salwa Judum Doesn’t Exist:
Chhattisgarh Govt., THE HINDU, Oct. 29, 2010,
available at http://www.hindu.com/2010/20.htm.
● For material that doesn’t have a date, mention in
brackets the date on which the page was last visited:
● J. Venkatesan, Salwa Judum Doesn’t Exist:
Chhattisgarh Govt., THE HINDU,
http://www.hindu.com/2010/20.htm (last visited Oct.
29, 2010).
● (NB – American style of date – first month, then date)
●
 Gadgets
[Id.]
● Used to refer to immediately preceding citation
● Use only when preceding citation has only one reference
● If previous cite contains more than one reference, do not use Id.
Instead, use abbreviated form of work you intend to refer to.

[Supra]
● Used to refer to citation not immediately preceding
[Infra]
● Refers to subsequent citation
● To be used very, very rarely

[Loc. cit.]
● Used to indicate a location in a work cited earlier but not
immediately earlier (i.e. particular location in a work)
[Op. cit.]
● Used to indicate a work cited earlier but not immediately earlier, or a
different location in such a work

● Their use is discouraged these days

1. H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law 32 (2nd ed. 1994).
2. Id.
3. Sayeda Khatoon v. M. Obadiah, (1944-45) 49 C.W.N.
745.
4. Id. at 746.
5. Supra note 1, at 128.
 Signals - Positive
[No signal]
● Indicates the reference clearly suports your proposition
● Exclusive in character – suggests other references either non-
existent or of negligible value
[See]
● Italics, first letter capitalised, only if at the beginning of a sentence
● Used for reference supporting your proposition, almost as good as
no signal
● Inclusive in character – admits existence of other references, but
suggests others may not be adequate in themselves the way the
provided reference is
1. See H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law 32 (2nd ed.
1994).
2. Hart’s concept of command differs from Austin’s.
See H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law 32 (2nd ed.
1994).
3. For a clearer exposition of the concept, see H.L.A.
Hart, The Concept of Law 32 (2nd ed. 1994).
[See also]
● Italics, first letter of first word capitalised, only if at the beginning of
a sentence
● Suggests additional reference supporting your proposition
● Good idea to explain in parentheses why you refer to it
1. See Sayeda Khatoon v. Obadiah, (1944-45) 49 C.W.N.
745. See also H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law 32 (2nd ed.
1994) (implications of Sayeda correlated with English
developments)
2. For a clearer exposition of the concept, see also H.L.A.
Hart, The Concept of Law 32 (2nd ed. 1994).
[Cf.]
● Short for ‘confer’, Latin for ‘compare’
● Used to refer to authority that does not precisely relate to your
proposition, but somewhat supports it externally
● For example, if you make a point regarding English law and want to
refer to similar developments in India
● Always a good idea to explain in parentheses why you refer to it
1. See Hyde v. Hyde, (1866) L.R. 1 P&D 130. Cf.
Sayeda Khatoon v. Obadiah, (1944-45) 49
C.W.N. 745 (use of similar concept in in Indian
law)
[E.g.]
● Used when reference cited is one among many suitable
references
● Can be used with other signals also: [See, e.g.,] [See also,
e.g.]
● Always italicised, with full-stops.
1. E.g. Hyde v. Hyde, (1866) L.R. 1 P&D 130.
2. Cf. Sayeda Khatoon v. Obadiah, (1944-45) 49 C.W.N.
745. See also, e.g. Hyde v. Hyde, (1866) L.R. 1 P&D
130.
 Signals - Negative
● Used to indicate reference that do not agree with author’s
point of view, or with reference cited by author in support of
her point of view.
● Popular examples:
– [Contra] – directly contrary reference
– [But see] – reference, one among several, inconsistent
with author’s view or reference cited by author in
support of her view
– [But cf.] - reference, one among several, indirectly
inconsistent with author’s view or reference cited by
author in support of her view
1. Contra H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law 32 (2nd ed.
1994)
2. See Sayeda Khatoon v. Obadiah, (1944-45) 49
C.W.N. 745. But see also Hyde v. Hyde, (1866) L.R. 1
P&D 130.
 Quotations
● Quotes of 50 words or more: indent on left and right
● Quotes of less than 50 words: enclosed within text in single quotes
● When quote starts from the middle of a sentence, capitalise the first
letter and enclose it in square brackets
● When quote ends in the middle of a sentence, add elllipsis at the
end
● Ellipsis = < . . ..>
= <space><dot><space><dot><space><dot><dot>
As has been pointed out in Rylands:5

The owner of cattle must keep them in at his peril or he will be

answerable for the natural consequences of their escape, ie,
with regard to tame beasts, for the grass they eat and trample
on, although not for any injury to the person of others, for it is
not the general nature of horses to kick or bulls to gore, but if
the owner knows that the beast has a vicious propensity to
attack man he will be answerable for that too.
OR

As has been pointed out in Rylands, ‘[I]t is not the general nature of horses to
kick or bulls to gore . . ..’5

OR

As has been pointed out in Rylands, ‘[I]t is not the general nature of . . . bulls
to gore . . ..’5
 OSCOLA

● Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal

Authorities
● Increasing in popularity
● Simple to use
– No small caps
● E-copy freely available
● Some cheatsheets also available
 Basic Rules
End footnotes with full stop
Cases cited without full stops in cause titles or report names
Neutral citation, if available, to be given before specific law report
citation
● Barclay v. British Airways [2009] UKHL 40, [2009] 1 All ER
871.
Indicate the court in brackets after the first page of the report
(and before the pinpoint if there is one)
● Barclay v. British Airways [2009] UKHL 40, [2009] 1 All ER 871
(HL), 880.
 Pinpoint citations – either paras or pages.

If paras, then enclose in square brackets

● MC Mehta v. Union of India AIR 1987 SC 1086 [12].
If more than one para, separate with comma
● MC Mehta v. Union of India AIR 1987 SC 1086 [12], [16].
If range of paras, separate with hyphen
● MC Mehta v. Union of India AIR 1987 SC 1086 [12] – [16].

If pages, then separate page from first page with comma (but if court
name is given in brackets, then no comma necessary
● MC Mehta v. Union of India AIR 1987 SC 1086, 1088, 1090.
● MC Mehta v. Union of India AIR 1987 SC 1086 (SC) 1088 - 90.
 Statutes

Cite an Act by its short title and year, using capitals for the major
words, and without a comma before the year.
● Hindu Marriage Act 1955
● Code of Civil Procedure 1908
You can abbreviate the name using the initials after first
mentioning the abbreviation. Always add year to abbreviation.

1. Hindu Marriage Act 1955 (HMA 1955) s 5(1)(a).

2. ...
3. HMA 1955, s 17.
Sub-parts of section should not be abbreviated
Hindu Marriage Act 1955, s 5(1)(a).
NOT
Hindu Marriage Act 1955, s 5 sub-section (1) para (a).

Multiple sections - ss
Hindu Marriage Act 1955, ss 5-7, 10.
 Books
General Principle: author, title, vol (additional information, edition,
publisher year)

Gareth Jones, Goff and Jones: The Law of Restitution (1st supp, 7th
edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2009).
Christian von Bar, The Common European Law of Torts, vol 2 (CH
Beck 2000).
Edited volumes: author, ‘title’ in editor (ed), book title (additional
information, publisher, year)
Justine Pila, ‘The Value of Authorship in the Digital Environment’ in
William H Dutton and Paul W Jeffreys (eds), World Wide Research:
Reshaping the Sciences and Humanities in the Century of Information
(MIT Press 2010).

Pinpoints: after bracket

Gareth Jones, Goff and Jones: The Law of Restitution (1st supp, 7th
edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2009) 280.
 Articles
General Rules:

If volume number not separately given, then year in square brackets

author, ‘title’ [year] journal name/abbv | first page
Paul Craig, ‘Theory, “Pure Theory” in Public Law’ [2005] PL 440.

If volume number separately given, then year in round brackets

author, ‘title’ (year) vol no | journal name/abbv | first page
Alison L Young, ‘In Defence of Due Deference’ (2009) 72 MLR 554.
Pinpoint: Add comma after first page

Jeremy Waldron, ‘The Core of the Case against Judicial Review’

(2006) 115 Yale LJ 1346, 1372.
 Newspaper Articles
● Author, 'title' name of the newspaper (|city of publication| |date|)
page.
● Page number only if known.
● If editorial, write ‘Editorial’ for author’s name
● If sourced online and pg number not available, add URL

Jane Croft, ‘Supreme Court Warns on Quality’ Financial Times (London,

1 July 2010) 3

Ian Loader, ‘The Great Victim of this Get Tough Hyperactivity is

Labour’ The Guardian (London, 19 June 2008) <www.guardian.co.uk/
commentisfree/2008/jun/19/justice.ukcrime> accessed 19 November 2009
 Online Sources
● Use general guidelines for secondary sources
● If author’s name not known, begin from title
● If date of publication not known, give only date of access

Sarah Cole, ‘Virtual Friend Fires Employee’ (Naked Law, 1 May 2009)
<www.nakedlaw.com/2009/05/index.html> accessed 19 November
2009.

‘Virtual Friend Fires Employee’ (Naked Law)

<www.nakedlaw.com/2009/05/index.html> accessed 19 November 2009.
 Gadgets
● For more details, ref. discussion on use of gadgets in Bluebook
● Use of supra discouraged
● To refer to previous note, use partial or abbreviated version of case
name (or surname of author), followed by open bracket, ‘n’, footnote
number, close bracket then, if necessary, page or para number for
pinpoint citation
● Ibid (and see, see also, cf) can be used, but should not be
capitalised or italicised
● Even when referring to the immediately preceding citation, you need
not use ibid; instead, you can refer to it using the case/author name
and footnote number
 Quotations
● Incorporate quotations of up to three lines into the text, within single
quotation marks
● Quotations within short quotations take double quotation marks
● Punctuation follows the closing quotation mark, unless it is an
essential part of quotation, e.g. question or exclamation mark, or
unless whole sentence is a quotation
● Footnote marker comes last, after both the closing quotation mark
and the punctuation.
● If in the middle of a para you want to add a quote, and
– if the quote is a complete sentence, capitalise the first letter
of the quote
– if not, then do not capitalise
● If you start a para with a sentence, and the first letter of the quote is
not capitalised in the original text, then capitalise it and encase it in
square brackets
● When text is removed from middle or end of quote, use ellipsis (...)
to indicate that some of the original text is missing. Leave space
between ellipsis and any text or punctuation, except quotation
marks.
The Chief Justice explained, ‘This power is not limited to defence
against aggression from a foreign nation’.61

The Chief Justice explained that powers of this nature are ‘not
limited to defence against aggression from a foreign nation’.61

Bix raises questions about the relevance of dissent. ‘[W]hat is the

point of a dissent... if the law simply is whatever the majority on
that court says it is?’22
● Quotes longer than three lines should be in an indented paragraph,
with no further indentation of the first line. Do not use quotation
marks, except for quotes within quotes. Leave a line space either
side of the indented quotation.

In order to demonstrate the connection between liability and intention, the

following example should suffice. Here, Lord Hoffmann reasoned as
follows:

It seems to me logical to found liability for damages upon the

intention of the parties (objectively ascertained) because ‘All
contractual liability is voluntarily undertaken’. It must be in
principle wrong to hold someone liable for risks... not reasonably
considered to have been undertaken.42