Citing legal references

Why cite?

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When submitting a piece of academic work, you need to properly acknowledge the material that you have consulted. This allows others who read your work to verify facts or research the same information more easily. Acknowledgment may be in the form of footnotes and / or a bibliography. Information that you need to collect in order to prepare a citation can include details such as the author, title, journal name, page numbers and publication information. Citations of web documents should also include a URL and the date the information was accessed. There are many sources of information; this guide describes the more commonly used ones for Law. For others, refer to the sources below.

What style does the Faculty of Law use?

The format of citations and footnotes used by the Monash University Law Faculty is described in: Campbell, E. and Fox, R, Student's Guide to Legal Writing and Law Exams (2nd ed, Federation Press, Leichardt, NSW, 2003). Australian Guide to Legal Citation (2nd ed, Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2002) [Law Library Ref A114 M517A 2002 and online (pdf)] For other legal style guides, see books for legal referencing below.

Primary sources
Cases Reported Judgments - cite from Authorised Law Reports if available (CLR, FCR, VR, etc) Party names (Year) Volume number Law Report Abbreviation First page, Cited page and/or [paragraph number]

Example: Reported Case with sequential volume numbering - use round brackets for the year

New South Wales v Lepore (2003) 212 CLR 511 Party names [Year] Volume number if applicable Law report abbreviation First page, Cited page and/or [paragraph number]

Example: Reported Case with sequence organized by year rather than volume - use square brackets for the year Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd v X [2001] 3 VR 601 Unreported Judgments - Medium Neutral Citation Party names [Year of decision] Court abbreviation Sequential judgment number, [Cited paragraph number]

Example: Unreported Case with Medium Neutral Citation R v Whyte [2004] VSCA 5 Statutes Short title Year (Jurisdiction) Pinpoint reference

Example: An Australian Act Legal Practices Act 1996 (Vic) s 37. Note that the citation for Bills is the same as for Acts but should not be italicised.

Example: An Australian Bill Anti-terrorism Bill 2004 (Cth).

Treaties Treaty name, Opened for signature Date, Treaty series citation (Entered into force Date)

Example: Security Treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America [ANZUS], opened for signature 1 September 1951, [1952] ATS 2 (entered into force 29 April 1952).

Secondary sources
Books Author, Title (Edition, Publisher, Place of publication, Year of publication), Page, paragraph or chapter reference. Author names:

Footnotes: first name, last name Bibliography: last name, first name

Examples: Authored book Chisolm, Richard and Nettheim, Garth, Understanding Law: An Introduction to Australia's Legal System (6th ed, Butterworths, Sydney, 2002). Edited book Kinley, David (ed), Human Rights in Australian Law : Principles, Practice and Potential (The Federation Press, Leichhardt, N.S.W., 1998). Chapter in an edited book Morgan, F, 'The Extent and Location of Crime', in Goldsmith, Andrew, Israel, Mark and Daly, Kathleen (eds), Crime and Justice : an Australian Textbook in Criminology (2nd ed, Lawbook Co., Sydney, 2003), 11. Journal articles Author, 'Title' (Year) Volume Journal Title, First page number of the article, Cited

page

Example: Journal article with continuous voluming - use round brackets for the year. Bagaric, Mirko, 'Active and Passive Euthanasia: Is there a Moral Distinction and Should there be a Legal Difference?' (1977) 5 Journal of Law and Medicine 143.

Example: Journal article with no continuous voluming - use square brackets for the year. Lee, HP, 'The High Court and Implied Fundamental Guarantees' [1993] Public Law 606. Note - an article should be cited as above regardless of retrieval method (ie. print or electronic) UNLESS the article is ONLY available in electronic form. If paragraph numbers are available, these may be referred to and enclosed in square brackets.

Example: Example: Journal article only available on the internet (no print equivalent) Rimmer, Matthew, 'Daubism: Copyright Law and Artistic Works' (2002) 9(4) E Law Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law [58] <http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v9n4/rimmer94.html> at 21 February 2003. Internet sources Author, Title (Year), Website name <URL> Date of retrieval.

Example: A Document published on the internet International Bar Association, International Code of Ethics (1988) Center for the Study of Ethics in the Profession, Illinois Institute of Technology <http://www.iit.edu/departments/csep/PublicWWW/codes/coe/International_Bar_Associ ation_88.html>at 21 February 2003.

Law reform agency reports Name of agency, Title, Report/Discussion paper No (Year)

Example: Australian Law Reform Commission, Essentially Yours: the Protection of Human Genetic Information in Australia, Report No 96 (2003). Legal encyclopaedias Publisher, Encyclopaedia title, vol # (at Date of retrieval) Title # Name of title, 'Chapter # Name of chapter' [Paragraph #].

Example: LexisNexis, Halsbury's Laws of Australia, vol 4 (at 22 June 2004) 85 Conflict of Laws, I General' [85-145]. Online encyclopaedia - volume numbers are not applicable. Example: LexisNexis, Halsbury's Laws of Australia, (at 7 April 2005) 85 Conflict of Laws, 'I General' [85-145]. Thomson, The Laws of Australia (at 10 July 2006) 2 Administrative Law, '2.4 Judicial Review of Administrative Action: Reviewable Decisions, Conduct and Powers and General Grounds' [2.4.94]-[2.4.98] Loose-leaf services Author/s (if any), Title of service, 'Title of section', volume #., looseleaf, Publisher, Place of publication, Date [Section or Paragraph #]

Example: Bourke, JP, Bourke's Criminal Law, Victoria, 'Provocation', vol 1, looseleaf, 3rd ed, Butterworths, Sydney, 1981 [3.120] Online service - volume numbers are not applicable. Add in date of access.

Example: Australian Labour Law Reporter, 'Contract of Employment', looseleaf (at 7 April 2005), CCH, North Ryde, NSW [1-738].

Books for legal referencing

The Monash University Law Faculty uses: Campbell, E. and Fox, R, Student's Guide to Legal Writing and Law Exams (2nd ed, Federation Press, Leichardt, NSW, 2003). Australian Guide to Legal Citation (2nd ed, Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2002) [Law Library Ref A114 M517A 2002 and online (pdf)]. For further detail, see: Stuhmcke, Anita. Legal Referencing (3rd ed. LexisNexis, 2005). For a comprehensive and up-to-date guide on citing electronic sources, see Chapter 11, How to cite legal materials located electronically. French, Derek, How to Cite Legal Authorities (Blackstone Press, London, 1996) ALWD citation manual : a professional system of citation. Association of Legal Writing Directors and Darby Dickerson. ALWD is a US "learned society for professors who coordinate legal writing instruction in legal education". Although the examples are US based, it is comprehensive, with Part 4 devoted to electronic sources and neutral citations, and paragraph 39 on Westlaw and LEXIS. The website includes updates and links to legal writing. Appendix 4, which provides Court Abbreviations (pdf), is available online. Bluebook : a uniform system of citation compiled by the editors of the Columbia Law Review, the Harvard Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and the Yale Law Journal.

Online tutorials and guides

Citing and referencing, how to acknowledge what you've read Monash University Library online tutorial Legal Citation Guide from Murdoch University Law & Business Library, provides an excellent overview of citation styles for various formats and is clearly set out with examples. Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (LII 2002-2003 ed.) by Peter W. Martin website covering principles and examples of how to cite legal materials using the Blue

Book and ALWD Citation Manual. A cross reference table to the BB and ALWD is also provided. Melbourne Manual for International Law Citation The MMILC combines citation rules from the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) and the previously unpublished in-house citation guide for the Melbourne Journal of International Law (from the website). Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) guide to citing UK and international law sources, produced by the Oxford Law Faculty. Variety of resources including an online tutorial, EndNote information, FAQ and printable version of the standard.

EndNote
Monash University has a site licence for EndNote, a program to organise your references and create footnotes and bibliographies. The Monash University Law Style (based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 2nd ed. 2002) is available to download as an EndNote style at the Library's EndNote page.

Citation indexes
Journal citation reports. Social sciences edition This database is a resource for journal evaluation, using citation data drawn from approximately 1,500 journals in the area of social sciences worldwide. JCR ranks journals by the frequency by which they have been cited and by their half life period. Journals can be ranked within a specific subject area (102 law journals are included) Most Cited Legal Periodicals (Washington & Lee University, School of Law Library) Ranks journals by the number of citations to each journal that were found in the full-text Westlaw journals database "Journals and Law Reviews (JLR)". Over 900 journals are covered, including 38 Australian law journals. Social Sciences Citation Index a multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the social sciences. It indexes more than 1,725 journals across 50 scientific disciplines. It allows searching for articles that cite an author or article that you specify. Lexis.com In the Law Reviews & Journals Library, perform an search for the author's name in the FOOTNOTES field, eg. FOOTNOTES (john w/2 smith) Return to Law styles Ask a question Phone +61 3 9905 5054 or use our enquiry services

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