BLUEBOOK CITATION GUIDE

Format:
1) Treaties

<Name of the treaty in sentence case>, <Date of entry into force in abbreviated month, day,
year format>, <UNTS citation> <[“abbreviation”]>, <article cited in art. 99 format>.

Example:

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, May 23, 1969, 115 UNTS 331, [“VCLT”], art. 1.

Note:
All months are abbreviated with their first three letters, except May, June, July which
are not abbreviated and September which is abbreviated as Sept.

2) Cases

<Title of case in sentence case> <(Parties abbreviated)>, <Nature of the decision>, <ICJ
citation or court citation> <(Date of promulgation in abbreviated month, day format)>,
<[“abbreviation”]>, <paragraph number/s>.

Example:

Military and Paramilitary Activities In and Against Nicaragua (Nicar. v. USA), Merits
Judgment, 1986 I.C.J. 14 (June 27) [“Nicaragua”], ¶100.

Note:

If other court decided, just use a consistent citation format.

Use ¶¶ for more than 1 paragraph. Use en-dash for consecutive paragraphs, e.g ¶¶
100-101. Use comma for non-consecutive paragraphs, e.g. ¶¶100,102.

Mac short cut for paragraph option + 7.

3) Books

<Author in First Name Last Name format>, <Title of book> <(Year of publication)>, <page
cited>. Font in all caps.

Example:

Malcolm Shaw, International Law (2008) 91.

4) Articles
<Author in First Name Last Name format>, <Title of the article in italics, sentence case>,
<Journal citation in all caps in volume, abbreviated journal citation, first page of article>,
<page cited> <(year)>.

Example:

Michael Scharf, Accelerated Formation of Custom in International Law, 20 ILSA J. Int’l &
C.L. 306, 309 (2014).

5) Statutes

<Title of the Statute> <(Country in abbreviation>, <section cited.>

Example:

The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972 (Ind.), §1.

Note:

Use §§ for many sections cited. Use en-dash for consecutive sections e.g. §§1-3 and
comma for non-consecutive sections e.g. §§1,5.

Mac word shortcut for section is option + 6.

6) UN Documents

A. Authored by a natural person

<Name of author in First Name Last Name format>, <Tite of the document in italics>, <Date
of publication in abbreviated month, day, year format>, <UN Doc citation>, <paragraph
cited>.

Example:

Alain Pellet, Note by the Special Rapporteur on Draft Guideline 3.1.5 (Definition of object
and purpose of the treaty) ¶1, June. 21, 2006, A/CN.4/572.

B. Authored by a UN body

<UN body>, <Title of Document> <Date of publication in abbreviated month, day, year
format>, <paragraph cited>.

Example:

CESCR, General Comment No. 12: The Right to Adequate Food (May 12, 1999), ¶17.

C. Resolutions
<Agency plus resolution number>, <Title of the resolution in italics>, <UN Doc citation>,
<(Date of publication in abbreviated month, day, year format)>, <paragraph cited>.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 63/124, The law of transboundary
aquifers (May 1, 2009), ¶5.