Legal citation
Encyclopedia
Legal citation is the practice of crediting and referring to authoritative documents and sources. The most common sources of authority cited are court decisions (cases), statutes, regulations, government documents, treaties, and scholarly writing.
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 480 (1965).
This citation gives helpful information about the cited authority to the reader.
Concurring and dissenting opinions are also published alongside the Court's opinion. For example, to cite to the opinion in which Justices Stewart and Black dissent, the citation would appear as the following:
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 527 (1965) (Stewart & Black, JJ., dissenting).
This citation is very similar to the citation to the Court's opinion. The two key differences are the pin cite, page 527 here, and the addition of the dissenting justices' names in a parenthetical following the date of the case.
Of course, legal citation in general and case citation in particular can become much more complicated.
citation standard that has been adopted by most of the country's institutions.
Australia: Australian legal citation
usually follows the Australian Guide to Legal Citation
(commonly known as AGLC)
Canada: Canadian legal citation usually follows the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (commonly called the McGill Guide)
Germany: German legal citation
Netherlands: Dutch legal citation follows the Leidraad voor juridische auteurs (commonly known as Leidraad)
United Kingdom: Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities
is the modern authority on citation of United Kingdom legislation
. Guidance for UK government drafters is provided in Statutory Instrument Practice.
USA:
Overview
Typically, a proper legal citation will inform the reader about a source's authority, how strongly it supports the writer's proposition, its age, and other, relevant information. This is an example citation to a United States Supreme Court court case:Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 480 (1965).
This citation gives helpful information about the cited authority to the reader.
- The names of the parties are Griswold and Connecticut. Generally, the name of the plaintiff (or, on appeal, petitioner) appears first, whereas the name of the defendant (or, on appeal, respondent) appears second. Thus, the case is Griswold v. ConnecticutGriswold v. ConnecticutGriswold v. Connecticut, , was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution protected a right to privacy. The case involved a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of contraceptives...
. - The case is reported in volume 381 of the United States ReportsUnited States ReportsThe United States Reports are the official record of the rulings, orders, case tables, and other proceedings of the Supreme Court of the United States. Opinions of the court in each case, prepended with a headnote prepared by the Reporter of Decisions, and any concurring or dissenting opinions are...
(abbreviated "U.S."). The case begins on page 479 of that volume of the reporter. The authoritative supporting material for the writer's proposition is on page 480. The reference to page 480 is referred to as a "pin cite" or "pinpoint". - The Supreme Court decided the case. Because the U.S. Reports publish only cases that the Supreme Court decides, the court deciding the case may be inferred from the reporter.
- The authority supports the proposition directly because it is not qualified with a signal. If it had offered only indirect or inferential support for the proposition, the author should have preceded the cite with a qualifying signalLegal citation signalsLegal citation signals are a set of brief abbreviated phrases or words used to clarify the authority or significance of a legal citation as it relates to a proposition...
such as see or cf. - The authority is from 1965, so either the clear and enduring wisdom of this source has been venerated by the test of time, or this clearly dated relic of another era is obviously ripe for revision, depending upon the needs of the writer.
Concurring and dissenting opinions are also published alongside the Court's opinion. For example, to cite to the opinion in which Justices Stewart and Black dissent, the citation would appear as the following:
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 527 (1965) (Stewart & Black, JJ., dissenting).
This citation is very similar to the citation to the Court's opinion. The two key differences are the pin cite, page 527 here, and the addition of the dissenting justices' names in a parenthetical following the date of the case.
Of course, legal citation in general and case citation in particular can become much more complicated.
Citation by country
Some countries have a de factoDe facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
citation standard that has been adopted by most of the country's institutions.
Australia: Australian legal citation
Australian legal citation
Legal citation in Australia generally mirrors the methods of citation used in England. A widely-used guide to Australian legal citation is the Australian Guide to Legal Citation , published by the Melbourne University Law Review....
usually follows the Australian Guide to Legal Citation
Australian Guide to Legal Citation
The Australian Guide to Legal Citation is published by the Melbourne University Law Review Association Inc in collaboration with the Melbourne Journal of International Law Inc, and seeks to provide the Australian legal community with a standard for citing legal sources...
(commonly known as AGLC)
Canada: Canadian legal citation usually follows the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (commonly called the McGill Guide)
Germany: German legal citation
German legal citation
As in most countries, Germany has a standard way of citing its legal codes and case law; an essentially identical system of citation is also used in Austria.-Citing portions of the German legal code:...
Netherlands: Dutch legal citation follows the Leidraad voor juridische auteurs (commonly known as Leidraad)
United Kingdom: Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities
Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities
The or OSCOLA is the modern method of legal citation in the United Kingdom. First developed by Peter Birks of the University of Oxford Faculty of Law, and now in its 4th edition, it has been adopted by most law schools and publishers in the United Kingdom as well as the courts.-Cases:Cases are to...
is the modern authority on citation of United Kingdom legislation
Citation of United Kingdom legislation
This article explains the citation of United Kingdom legislation, including the systems used for legislation passed by devolved parliaments and assemblies, for secondary legislation, and for prerogative instruments...
. Guidance for UK government drafters is provided in Statutory Instrument Practice.
USA:
U. S. legal citation follows
- BluebookBluebookThe Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. The Bluebook is compiled by the Harvard Law Review Association, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal....
standard, - ALWD Citation ManualALWD Citation ManualThe ALWD Citation Manual is a legal citation system for the United States compiled by the Association of Legal Writing Directors. Its first edition was published in 2000. Currently, it is in its fourth edition ....
, or - Tanbook (New York State Official Reports Style Manual).
- Maroonbook (University of Chicago Law School).
A number of U.S. states have adopted individual public domain citations standards.
See also
- Case citationCase citationCase citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
- Citation analysisCitation analysisCitation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns, and graphs of citations in articles and books. It uses citations in scholarly works to establish links to other works or other researchers. Citation analysis is one of the most widely used methods of bibliometrics...
- Legal citation signalsLegal citation signalsLegal citation signals are a set of brief abbreviated phrases or words used to clarify the authority or significance of a legal citation as it relates to a proposition...
- Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal AuthoritiesOxford Standard for Citation Of Legal AuthoritiesThe or OSCOLA is the modern method of legal citation in the United Kingdom. First developed by Peter Birks of the University of Oxford Faculty of Law, and now in its 4th edition, it has been adopted by most law schools and publishers in the United Kingdom as well as the courts.-Cases:Cases are to...
or "OSCOLA" - Sub nomineSub nomineSub nomine is a Latin term often used in full or abbreviated form in legal citations to indicate the name under which the litigation continued. Sub nomine literally means "under the name", "in the name of", "under the title of"...