Leicester Law School

Writing Guide 2018-19

Table of Contents
Identification of Relevant Issues ............................................................................................................. 4
What area of the law is the question asking me to demonstrate knowledge of?.............................. 4
Have I understood all the important legal terms? .............................................................................. 4
Have I subdivided the question into all the parts that will need addressing?.................................... 4
The introduction ................................................................................................................................. 4
Show Knowledge of Relevant Rules of Law ............................................................................................ 4
Have I referred to primary sources of law – legislation and case law? .............................................. 4
Is the law I have referred to still ‘good law’ – relevant and up-to-date? ........................................... 5
Have I referred to secondary sources of law where necessary? ........................................................ 5
Problem questions .......................................................................................................................... 5
Essay questions ............................................................................................................................... 5
Have I considered the use of quotations? .......................................................................................... 6
Knowledge and Understanding – Logic and Analysis.............................................................................. 6
Have I critically analysed the question?.............................................................................................. 6
Have I undertaken critical analysis in my answer? ............................................................................. 6
Essay questions ............................................................................................................................... 6
Problem questions .......................................................................................................................... 7
Am I clear about what a question doesn't include? ........................................................................... 7
Have I evaluated whether the law (as it now stands) is good law? .................................................... 8
What kind of answer does it imply? ................................................................................................... 8
Broad models to help me answer essay questions and problem questions ...................................... 9
Essay questions ............................................................................................................................... 9
Problem questions ........................................................................................................................ 10
Structure ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Is there a clear and organised presentation of the issues, facts, and core materials to be
addressed? ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Have I separated sections that are descriptive from sections that are analytical? .......................... 10
Do the materials and analyses I have used provide enough evidence for my conclusion? ............. 11
Have I got clear signposts at the beginning of paragraphs? ............................................................. 11
Have I broken-up any very long paragraphs? ................................................................................... 11
Essay questions ............................................................................................................................. 11
Problem questions ........................................................................................................................ 12
Is the title page correct? ................................................................................................................... 12
Presentation.......................................................................................................................................... 12
Have I read my essay aloud to check my sentence structure? ......................................................... 12
Have I checked my spelling, grammar and vocabulary? ................................................................... 12

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 Have I used gender neutral language? ............................................................................................. 12
Referencing ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Have I referenced all sources and ideas cited in my essay? ............................................................. 13
Does my referencing follow the OSCOLA referencing style guide? .................................................. 13
If I reference something more than once, have I shortened the subsequent citations? ................. 14
The bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 15
Finally – Make sure you check and proof read your work .................................................................... 17
Am I sure this is an answer to the question set? .............................................................................. 17
Do my introduction and conclusion now make sense as answer to the question? ......................... 17
Have I used the terms of the question throughout the essay? ........................................................ 17
Do I know when this has to be handed in? ....................................................................................... 17
Have I stuck to the word limit? ......................................................................................................... 17
Have I relooked at the marking criteria in the Assessment Handbook ............................................ 18

This guide complements and should be read in conjunction the Law School Assessment
Handbook.
First Years should also refer to:
• The Contract Law (What to do at Law School) Guide
• Your Analysing Legal Systems Module

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Identification of Relevant Issues
The following preparatory steps are designed to help you ‘identify the issues raised by the question’.

What area of the law is the question asking me to demonstrate

knowledge of?
What part of the syllabus does the question concern? Does it cover more than one part of the
syllabus?
• Check – and double-check – that the question is about what you think it is about.
• Remember, you cannot re-write the question to suit your own preferences.

Have I understood all the important legal terms?

Get definitions clear before you do anything else.
• Have you used your lecture notes and a law dictionary?
• If a specialist or unusual term is used in the question do you know if there is a specific case or
other legal instrument where the key term is defined?

Have I subdivided the question into all the parts that will need
addressing?
Spend some time isolating all of the different aspects of the question.
• Do not assume that a broad overview will answer the precise question set.
• Try to map the points you will need to raise, moving from the general to the specific.

The introduction
A good introduction will involve telling the reader that you have identified the legal issues, context
and terms of the question. It is particularly important that you have an introduction for essay
questions; it may be less important for problem questions.
• It may be helpful to write your introduction last. This means you will know what you are
introducing, and it means you will be able to state – from the outset – your answer to the
question set.
• For examples of how to formulate an introduction, see the ‘What to do at Law School Guide’
guide for Contract Law.

Show Knowledge of Relevant Rules of Law

Showing knowledge of relevant rules of law is an important part of the marking criteria.

Have I referred to primary sources of law – legislation and case law?

• All statements in your essay must be supported by evidence or authority. You will find
examples of the use of authority to answer questions in the What to do at Law School Guide.
• While secondary sources like textbooks and journal articles can help you understand an area
of law, legislation and case law are the primary sources of law, and it is important to cite them
in your essays. Where possible, cite authority for every proposition of law that you put in your
answer.

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Is the law I have referred to still ‘good law’ – relevant and up-to-date?
• It is important to use good quality sources of law, and you are strongly recommended to use
a legal database like Lexis Library or Westlaw UK, in preference to Google or an internet search
engine. Jackie Hanes, our librarian, will talk to you in your first year lectures about finding
sources.
• For legislation, use sources like Lexis Library and Westlaw UK (not Legislation.gov.uk or
JustisOne), that are fully updated and consolidated, and include all amendments and repeals.
For case law, use the most authoritative series of law reports available, preferably The Law
Reports, Weekly Law Reports, All England Law Reports or another specialist series, again
available on Lexis Library or Westlaw UK.
• Your lecturer will warn you if the law is about to change, but is good practice to check that
law is relevant and up-to-date. For relevancy, ensure that it relates to the right subject and
jurisdiction; and for currency, ensure that you have the most up-to-date version. Legal
databases include 'traffic-light' based legislation and case law citators, which can indicate if
legislation is in-force, amended or repealed, or if a case has been overruled or not followed.
Law textbooks are republished frequently to reflect changes to the law, and it is important to
use the most recent edition of a textbook, not out-of-date old editions.

Have I referred to secondary sources of law where necessary?

• The legal research process often starts with a textbook, which can provide a broad
understanding of the law, and identify key legislation and case law. It is advisable to start with
the textbooks recommended by your tutor in your module reading list.

Problem questions
• It is not usually necessary to refer to secondary sources of law when answering problem
questions. However, it will be useful in terms of your understanding to have a look at
alternative textbooks to the ones on your module reading list to gain a greater understanding
of the law. Journal articles and other secondary sources can also help you to gain a better and
clearer understanding of the law and its context.

Essay questions
• You should show evidence of wider reading and use the ideas of others to support your own
ideas. You may wish to use additional secondary sources, for example practitioner texts and
research monographs (advanced textbooks), journal articles and official (government and
parliamentary) publications. Journal articles can be very useful for discussing new laws,
presenting new research, and expressing opinions on the law.

• As with primary sources, it is important to evaluate secondary sources to ensure that they are
appropriate to use in your essay. This simple mnemonic, referred to as the 'CRAAP test', can
help you evaluate information.

• Currency: when was it published, is it the most recent edition, has the law changed?
• Relevance: to my essay title or research question, to the English and Welsh jurisdiction?
• Authority: who is the author, is the author an expert, who is the publisher, is it peer-
reviewed?
• Accuracy: is it well written, does it have references, can statements be verified?
• Purpose: why was it written, who is the audience, who paid for it, does it sell a product?

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Books and journal articles are the traditional secondary sources and are generally considered to be
high quality academic and legal sources. You may discover many non-traditional sources in new media
formats, for example websites, newspapers, blogs, twitter, film, television and radio, which may be
less academic and legal. The quality of these sources can be more variable, and it is advisable to
evaluate and verify the information, and use a range of both traditional and non-traditional secondary
sources in your work.

Have I considered the use of quotations?

Quotations can be useful to demonstrate the point you are making. A couple of lines from a source is
usually enough. Very lengthy quotations can reduce the quality of the answer, as they tend to disrupt
the flow of the argument that you are trying to make.
• Be sure to fully reference the quotation by including both the source and the page or
paragraph numbers in your footnote (see 7.2).
• A short quotation (of up to three lines of text) should be presented in single quotation marks
in the body of your essay.
• Longer quotations (over three lines of text) should be presented in an indented paragraph,
without quotation marks.
• Avoid using too many quotations and very long quotations. Quotations are often descriptive
and can use words in your answer that could otherwise be used for problem solving, analysis
and evaluation. Consider paraphrasing rather than directly quoting a source, but be sure to
fully reference the paraphrase too.

Knowledge and Understanding – Logic and Analysis

Showing understanding of the question and being able to undertake critical analysis are important
parts of our marking criteria.

Have I critically analysed the question?

This is covered in Section 1 of this Writing Guide.

Have I undertaken critical analysis in my answer?

You will have to describe in any work you do: describe the law, or describe a social problem.

You will also be asked to undertake critical analysis of the law (essay questions) or a problem question
in relation to the law (problem questions). You may also be asked to critically evaluate or discuss the
law or problem.

Critical writing is not about authority, it is about evaluation of arguments and ideas on their own
merits using your own judgment.

Essay questions
Critical analysis means being critical of others’ ideas, including judges and other authorities on the
law.

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 The most important examples in law will be:
• Showing that an argument is coherent or incoherent; is an argument contradictory; does it
contain conclusions that don’t follow from the evidence?
• Arguing that law will be just or unjust; will the law be discriminatory or have other unforeseen or
undesirable consequences?
• Deciding whether a piece of law is good law or bad law; will the law have good social
consequences, solve a social problem, or whether it will create problems for citizens (e.g. will be
difficult to obey) or for judges (e.g. will it be difficult to interpret)?

For example:
Non-fatal offences against the person, as set out in the Offences Against the Person Act
1861, represents “a ragbag of offences brought together form a wide variety of sources with
no attempt, as the draftsman frankly acknowledged, to introduce consistency as to
substance or as to form” (Prof JC Smith, 1991).
Drawing on your knowledge of the general principles of criminal law, discuss the extent to
which you agree with this statement.

So, the text of this question requires:

‘Knowledge’ = description
‘Discuss the extent’
• The question clearly requires using a specific set of principle or standards, general
principles of criminal law. The key element of the essay, however, is your judgement about
where and how these principles are, or are not, fulfilled by the law you have described.
• The question requires the answerer to clearly distinguish any description of the law from
evaluation using principles.

Problem questions
For problem questions, a good example of the critical analysis of the problem in relation to the law is
provided in the What to do at Law School Guide. Contract Law Lesson 1: offer and acceptance details
what is expected in terms of approach.

Am I clear about what a question doesn't include?

Take some time to consider what I should include.

Relevance is an important part of the marking criteria.

• Does it really require me to discuss basic issues or basic cases?
• Avoid redundancy. Avoid wasting words covering basic or general points that do not answer
the question set. You can lose marks by ‘padding out a question’. It is important to be succinct.
• The history of an area of law is rarely a necessary background for answering a contemporary
legal question, unless you are specifically asked to provide this information.

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 For example:
Ashworth has argued that: “the duty-situations developed by the courts in the current law
of manslaughter by omission are unprincipled, unpredictable and capable of producing
injustice. The … Government should refer this whole area to the Law Commission, requiring
a review of all these positive duties and of the arguments for a good citizen/’easy rescue’
law, in order to introduce a regime that is better proportioned to the wrongfulness of the
omission and which meets the rule-of-law objections.”
Discuss.

So:
Where the question asks you to ‘discuss’ it invites you to describe & analyse & evaluate.

What should you describe here?

• The evolution of the law has been through the Courts, and some cases will be important.
• The powers of the Law Commission.
• A set of moral / legal arguments developed by lawyers and scholars that are principled,
predictable and just.

But think carefully about what would not be appropriate:

• an essay wholly devoted to describing problematic manslaughter cases,
• comparison with other areas of law,
• a purely moral or critical account of what the law should look like.

Have I evaluated whether the law (as it now stands) is good law?
You may find that presenting your own ideas and conclusions is difficult. After all you are studying the
subject for the first time and the more you read, the more it seems that all the ideas have been
explored. It is also the case that students are often reluctant to give their own critical evaluation in
case this is viewed as ‘merely their opinion’ or ‘biased’.

However, many of your essay titles and problems will have been set in areas where there is more than
one view. You are expected to collect the evidence, use it, and form your own conclusions. Your tutors
are not expecting you to have startling new insights into the subject, but they do want you to be clear
for yourselves and for them what you have understood about the topic area.

In law in particular we need to know whether the law is good law. There are many grounds on which
it would be legitimate to pose this question:
• Does it solve social problems?
• Is it clear?
• Does it exclude important cases or problems?
• Does it create too much, or too little, discretion?

The type of critical question you need to ask will depend upon the area of law you are looking at.
Nonetheless, you should never assume that the law is good law simply because it is the law.

What kind of answer does it imply?

It is important to reflect upon the form of the answer implied by the question.
• Yes or no?
• A clear legal answer to a legal question?
• Is the law clear, either in its explicit construction or in the purpose it is meant to serve?

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 • Is a legal rule or practice a response to a specific social issue?

Note:
Some questions will imply that a yes or no answer is possible, but you will still have to demonstrate
that different arguments and evaluations are possible.

Broad models to help me answer essay questions and problem

questions
Essay questions
The Introduction
The opening paragraph is the key to any essay because this sets out your understanding of the
question and explains how you are going to tackle it. There may be more than one interpretation or
approach to an essay question that is acceptable. Do not spend time writing generally about the area
or “putting the question into context”. The best answers identify the issues and set a strategy for
dealing with them. Every word should count.

The Main Body

Argue both sides of a question
Typically there are arguments for and against a proposition and students are expected to demonstrate
that they know them and that they are able to assess them. It is fine to have a view, to believe that
one set of arguments is more convincing than another but the strongest set of arguments for each
side must be assessed.
Note that one of the assessment criteria for essays is that they are “balanced” – this means that the
arguments against a position as well as the arguments for it should be explained and assessed.

The reasoning process

Lecturers are interested in a student’s reasoning process and what evidence and argument that they
use. Conclusions or opinions without evidence or argument are not useful. Do not assume that the
reader knows something: set out the reasoning process and evidence clearly and explicitly. The aim of
the essay is to demonstrate knowledge.
Conclusions
Students should come to a conclusion explaining how the arguments in your essay allow you to come
to your conclusion.

NB: Examinations
It is understood that examinations are written under time pressure and that, therefore, mistakes of
spelling, grammar, punctuation etc are more likely. They only cause real problems if they are very
severe and have an effect on the substance of the answer.

References in exams: Full references for cases are not expected in exams. It is expected that you know
the names of cases or at least enough of the name to identify the case. So, for example, R v Secretary
of State for Transport ex parte Factortame Ltd (No2) can be referred to in an exam as Factortame (No
2). The (No 2) is a critical part of this reference as there were four Factortame cases which have been
reported.

When referring to statutory provisions students are expected to be able to name the relevant act and
the particular provision that they are referring to.

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Problem questions
A problem question is a fictional factual situation which raises a number of legal issues. You are
typically asked to advise one or more people in relation to the facts. A key skill which is being tested
is the ability to identify which issue(s) are being raised by the facts.

One methodology that you may use to help you answer problem questions is the IRAC (Issue, Rule,
Analysis, Conclusion) approach as follows:

• Identify the relevant legal issue(s). Describe or explain the appropriate legal rules that will be
used to deal with the issues.
• Analyse or apply the rule to the facts.
• Reach a conclusion about the legal issues that have been raised, for example, is there a
contract, is the behaviour of the public body unlawful, has a tort been committed?

There are a number of things to note about this technique. First, the relevant issues cannot be
identified without a knowledge of the appropriate legal rules or principles. Secondly, this is not
necessarily a mechanical process leading to clear answers one way or another. Typically problem
questions are set where there is some uncertainty surrounding the legal principles or rules or their
application is not straightforward. You are often required to provide an assessment of the strength or
weakness of their argument (although some points may be clear and unambiguous). Thirdly, since you
are being asked to advise someone, a good answer will bear in mind what the fictitious client wants
to get out of the factual situation. This does not mean they should only look at arguments that support
their client’s case. One of the jobs of a lawyer is to assess the strength of a case. To do this, the lawyer
must understand all the arguments, both for and against his/her client.

Structure
The structure of your answer is an important part of our marking criteria.

Presentation
Is there a clear and organised presentation of the issues, facts, and core materials to be addressed?
• The introduction is not the place to develop your argument. But it does require you to state
what your answer to the question will be.
• Having decided what you will be including and excluding, prepare a list of headings and sub-
headings and have a clear idea what you will be including under each.
• Think about the size of the sections.
• If you think a section will take up too much space, does it subdivide into smaller sections?

Have I separated sections that are descriptive from sections that are
analytical?
Don’t switch too frequently – and without signposting – between description and evaluation. The
facts are one thing, your assessment of them another.

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Do the materials and analyses I have used provide enough evidence for
my conclusion?
You may well have an idea of what the right answer is to the question set. Think hard about what
evidence you will need to justify your conclusion. If you cannot find that evidence then you need
either to look again for evidence or change what you think your conclusion should be.

Have I got clear signposts at the beginning of paragraphs?

Good signposting tells the reader where the essay is going and why.

Examples

Introduction
“This essay seeks to demonstrate/evaluate/illustrate/discuss …”

Main Sections
“My initial concern is with describing contemporary case law ….”

“We need to be aware of two / three / several leading cases/ principles…”

“Despite this, we should also be aware of a contradictory line of cases / line of reasoning…”

Evaluative Sections
“A number of criticisms have been / could be levelled at the law…”

“It can be argued that the law would be more effective/ coherent / just if….”

Concluding Section
“The evidence shows that …”

“There is general agreement that…”

“This question cannot be answered definitively, we can tentatively conclude…”

“It is clear that the law has improved/ has not improved because of…”

“The application of the law on the issues in the question is such that my advice to X is”

Have I broken-up any very long paragraphs?

The basic position is that each paragraph should cover one idea or issue.

Essay questions
You can use paragraphs to make a clear and visual separation between descriptive writing and critical
analysis, by switching to a new paragraph when you move from description to critical writing, and vice
versa. This can help in:
• emphasising to the reader that you are including both description and critical analysis, by providing
a visual representation of their separation; and

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• pushing you to produce the necessary critical writing, especially if you find that your description
paragraphs are always longer, or more frequent, than your critical analysis paragraphs.

A paragraph break can provide a brief pause for your readers within a longer argument; giving them
the opportunity to make sure they are keeping up with your reasoning. Paragraphs that are overly
long can require readers to hold too much in their mind at once, resulting in their having to re-read
the material until they can identify the point you are making.

Problem questions
In problem questions, you may wish to start a new paragraph (properly signposted at the start) every
time you identify the legal issues, state the rule/law, apply the law to the facts of the problem and
conclude. This may give your answer a very positive sense of structure.

Is the title page correct?

Ensure you have included all the requisite details.

Presentation
Have I read my essay aloud to check my sentence structure?
Always try to write concisely, simply and clearly. Accept that you can always improve the clarity of
your writing.
• If you are not sure about the use of certain standard grammatical forms, refer to a useful set
of short information sheets produced by the Student Learning Centre.

Have I checked my spelling, grammar and vocabulary?

Here are some writing hints, which you may find obvious, but assessors frequently complain that they
are not observed:
• Do not write very long sentences; the meaning can get obscured. A good guide is not to exceed
twenty words in any sentence. Keep one idea per sentence.
• Use punctuation effectively; punctuation consists of more than full stops and commas!
• Use paragraphs effectively; a new paragraph signals a new idea or area of discussion.

Have I used gender neutral language?

A recognised feature of good modern writing is the use of gender neutral language. This means
avoiding the use of male terms when the person about whom you are writing could just as easily be a
woman as a man.
• The use of ‘he’ when referring to judges, lawyers, students or any group of people is seen as
reinforcing gender stereo-typing of certain groups. The old convention that the term ‘he’ also
included ‘she’ is no longer regarded as acceptable in many quarters.

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Referencing
Accurate and appropriate referencing is a very important part of our marking criteria.

Have I referenced all sources and ideas cited in my essay?

Referencing is a key academic skill and it enables you to: acknowledge the work or ideas of other
people, provide authority to your arguments, and evidence of your wider research and reading.
Referencing also enables your reader to distinguish your ideas from others, and to follow up other
work in more detail.

You should reference every time you make a point that refers to primary sources of law (legislation
and case law), or to others' commentary or opinions on the law, as found in books, articles and other
secondary sources. As a general rule, your introduction and conclusion may be your own work; but
arguments made in the main body of your essay, should be based on, and therefore reference, other
academic sources.

If you do not reference, you risk being accused of plagiarism or cheating, which is a form of academic
misconduct. Plagiarism is the act of passing off another person's work or ideas as your own. Most
plagiarism is unintentional, and can be avoided by proper referencing.

Does my referencing follow the OSCOLA referencing style guide?

You should follow the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA). The
OSCOLA referencing style is available as a free download from the University of Oxford. We
recommend downloading or printing a copy of OSCOLA, so that it is to hand when you write your
essays. There is also an OSCOLA guide from the University of Leicester, and an OSCOLA training
tutorial from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

OSCOLA is a footnote referencing style. Numbered footnote markers are inserted in the main body
of your essay, and the reference is given in a correspondingly numbered footnote at the bottom of
the page. Footnote markers are inserted as superscript numbers (normally at the end of the
sentence, directly after the punctuation), and the footnote is closed with a full-stop. Footnotes are
normally included in the word count, but the bibliography is excluded from the word count.

The golden rules of OSCOLA are consistency and consideration for the reader. There are specific
rules for citing legislation and case law (primary sources), and books and articles and other
secondary sources. The rules for citing the key sources are given below, and further rules and
examples are available via the library's OSCOLA guide, and in the full OSCOLA referencing guide.

Statute: Act Title Year

Statutory Instrument: Statutory Instrument Title Year, SI Year/Number
Case: Case Name Citation
Book: Author, Book Title (Edition, Publisher Year)
Chapter: Author, 'Chapter Title', in Editor, Book Title (Edition, Publisher Year)
Article: Author, 'Article Title' Citation
Website: Author, 'Webpage Title' (Website Title, Date) < URL > accessed Date

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 Example:
There were estimated to be 314,000 temporary agency workers in Britain in April to June 2014,
representing a 11.3% increase in relation to the same period in the previous year.1 The
Employment Rights Act 1996, s 230(1) defines an employee as ‘an individual who has entered
into, or works … under a contract of employment’. The uncertain employment status of agency
workers stems from the “triangular” nature of the relationship between the agency worker, the
agency and the client.2 In Brook Street Bureau (UK) Ltd v Dacas, an agency worker could have
employee status, an implied contract of employment between the agency worker and the client
was possible.3

1. Office for National Statistics, 'EMP07: Temporary Employees' (21 February 2018) <
https://www.ons.gov.uk/temporaryemployeesemp07 > accessed 1 March 2018.
2. Michael Wynn and Patricia Leighton, ‘Agency Workers, Employment Rights and the Ebb
and Flow of Freedom of Contract’ (2009) 72 MLR 91.
3. [2004] EWCA Civ 217, [2004] IRLR 358.

For primary sources, if the full title, year and section of legislation is given in the main body of the
essay, you do not need to add a footnote. Likewise, if the full case name is given in the main body of
the essay, you only need to include the citation in the footnote.

The author's names should be written as it appears on the publication, but postnominals such as QC
should be omitted. In the footnote, the author's first name or initial comes first, followed by their
surname. If there are four or more authors, you should include only the first author followed by the
words 'and others' (not et al). If a work is unattributed, and has no personal or corporate author,
the reference should begin with the title.

Where citations are required to reference cases and journal articles, these are given in the format:
(year), volume, abbreviation and page, or [year] abbreviation and page. Abbreviations can be found
using the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, and should be given with all punctuation removed.

If you quote or refer to part of resource, you should include the page or paragraph number at the
end of your footnote. Generally, page numbers stand alone, and paragraph numbers in square
brackets, and should be given with all prefixes (p, pp and para) removed. If you refer to a judge in a
case, you should also include the judge's surname and an abbreviation for judicial office, in rounded
brackets, at the end of the footnote, after the paragraph number. There is extensive guidance on
naming conventions in the full OSCOLA referencing guide.

If I reference something more than once, have I shortened the

subsequent citations?
When a source is cited for the first time, the reference should be given in full. If the same source is
referenced again, the subsequent citations can be shortened, and a brief reference given followed
by a cross-reference (in rounded brackets) to the footnote with the full citation.

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 Example:
This approach has been said to be ‘a radical departure from previous authority'.10 The
interventionist approach had been eschewed in favour of a laisser-faire approach which seeks to
preserve the autonomy of the commercial parties.11 The tribunal was required to consider
whether there was an implied contract between the parties.12

10. Wynn and Leighton (n 2) 94.

11. Dacas (n 3).
12. ibid 359.
• Typically, cases are subsequently shortened to the first party name; and books and articles
to the author's surname. If you are citing more than one source written by the same author,
you should also include a shortened form of the title for clarity.

• If the subsequent citation is repeated in the immediately following footnote, the term 'ibid'
can be used instead of a short form, to mean 'in the same place' or 'as above'.

• If you are citing the same source, but at a different page or paragraph, you should include
the new page or paragraph after the short form or ibid.

• It is common for legislation to abbreviated or referred to by a popular name. When the

legislation is cited for the first time, the abbreviation or alternative title is given in rounded
brackets, at the end of the reference, and can be used thereafter.

There is further information and examples about short forms and ibids on the library's OSCOLA
guide, and in the full OSCOLA referencing guide.

The bibliography
A bibliography is not usually required for undergraduate essay or problem questions. If you need to
provide a bibliography then the following may be helpful:

A bibliography is a list of all the sources cited in your essay. The bibliography is presented on a new
page at the end of the essay. In general, items in the bibliography are cited in the OSCOLA referencing
style, as per the footnote rules, with a few exceptions. The bibliography is split into three sections: 1)
cases, 2) legislation and 3) bibliography.

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Example:
Cases
Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41, [2011] IRLR 820
Brook Street Bureau (UK) Ltd v Dacus [2004] EWCA Civ 217, [2004] IRLR 358
McMeechan v Secretary of State for Employment [1997] ICR 549 (CA)
Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance [1968] 2 QB
47 (HC)

European Union Legislation

Council Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November
2008 on temporary agency work [2008] OJ 2008 L327/9

Statutes
Employment Rights Act 1996
Equality Act 2010

Statutory Instruments
Agency Workers Regulations 2010, SI 2010/93
Working Time Regulations 1998, SI 1998/1833

Bibliography
Davies A, ‘The Implementation of the Directive on Temporary Agency Work in the UK: A Missed
Opportunity’ (2010) 1 ELLJ 303
Davies A, Employment Law (Pearson 2015)
Deakin S and Morris GS, Labour Law (6th edn, Hart 2012)
Emir A, Selwyn’s Law of Employment (19th edn, OUP 2016)
Office for National Statistics, 'EMP07: Temporary Employees' (21 February 2018) <
https://www.ons.gov.uk/temporaryemployeesemp07 > accessed 1 March 2018
Wynn M and Leighton P, ‘Agency Workers, Employment Rights and the Ebb and Flow of Freedom
of Contract’ (2009) 72 MLR 91
• In the Table of cases, case names and citations are copied from the footnote, although the
case names are not italicised. The table of cases is divided into sections by jurisdiction, and
cases are listed alphabetically by the first significant word of the party name.
• In the Table of legislation, legislation is copied from the main body or footnotes. The table of
legislation is divided into sections, with sections for statutes and statutory instruments, and
other sections by jurisdiction as necessary. Within each section, the legislation is listed
alphabetically by the first significant word of the legislation title.
• In the Bibliography, all books, articles and other secondary sources should be copied from the
footnote, but not any page or paragraph number pinpoints, and the full-stop from the end of
the footnote should be removed. The author's name is changed to surname first, followed by
their initials, and then a comma. The bibliography is listed alphabetically by author's surname.
If citing more than one item by the same author, sources should then be listed chronologically
(oldest first), and then alphabetically by title. If an item is unattributed, the author's name is
replaced by a double em-dash (——), and the items listed at the beginning of the bibliography,
alphabetically by the first significant word of the title.

16
Finally – Make sure you check and proof read your work
Am I sure this is an answer to the question set?
You should check that the content of the main sections of your answer reflects what you have
indicated you would cover in the introduction. If it does not, one or the other (or possibly both) need
to be revised.
• Look over what you have written. Is it clear in its message?
• Are some sections too detailed compared with others? Are there gaps in the reasoning?
• Is there a clear thread of argument running through the paper?
• Are the introduction and conclusion effective?
• What is the balance between description and evaluation?
• Are there too many or too few quotations?
• Are there appropriate references to authorities supporting the arguments in my paper?

Do my introduction and conclusion now make sense as answer to the

question?
Does your introduction outline the main issues you aimed to answer throughout your essay?

Is the conclusion reflective of main arguments in your essay?

• Restate the main theme of your essay.
• Avoid introducing new issues in your conclusion.
• Ensure you are not reiterating your introduction as the conclusion is only there to provide a
closing summary to the discussion in your essay.

Have I used the terms of the question throughout the essay?

Ensure you have used the key terms of the question throughout the essay in all your arguments to
show the examiner you understand the significance of these terms.

Do I know when this has to be handed in?

Before starting your research and writing, make sure you have identified the date and time the essay
is to be handed in. This will help you plan your approach in tackling the essay.

Have I stuck to the word limit?

Whatever the word limit, it has not been fixed at random, but has been determined as the appropriate
space in which to answer the questions set. You may feel that not enough space has been allowed,
but you should realize that the word limit is imposed to test your ability to express yourself clearly and
concisely.
• By refining your essay plan, you should be able to gauge the amount of detail needed to
develop the main points.
• Failure to comply with the word limits will result in the imposition of penalties in accordance
with the University’s procedures; do check these in your Student Handbook.
• You will be required to declare the number of words in your essay, which directs your mind to
the required word limit. Word limits are strictly applied; there is no policy of ignoring small
over-runs in word limits. It is cheating to declare an inaccurate word count.

17
Have I looked again at the marking criteria in the Assessment
Handbook?
It is a good idea to look again at the marking criteria in the Assessment Handbook when doing a final
review of your work. These are the criteria that the markers will be using to assess your work.

18