OSCOLA

When you refer to cases, legislation, quote or paraphrase someone else’s work in your assignment, you must cite (i.e. acknowledge) the source by including a numbered footnote marker in the text that corresponds with the citation (i.e. full details of the source) in the footnotes at the bottom of the page. The citations must be provided in the OSCOLA style.

Put the superscript number at the end of the relevant sentence, unless it makes more sense to place it directly after the word that it specifically relates to. The following passage illustrates this point.

If you are referring to a point that is in brackets, place the superscript number before the close of the bracket, e.g. (most notably in Smith v Brown³)

If you are quoting, place the superscript after the quotation marks and comma or full stop.

For quotations of over three lines, do not use quotation marks – put the entire quotation in an indented paragraph. Leave a line space above and below the quotation. 

Please refer to the following cribsheet:

• MS Word Superscript and Subscript Numbering [PDF]

Pinpoints indicate the exact page where the material being referred to can be found. As soon as you refer to an element of content of a source, this needs to be pinpointed. You usually include the pinpoint at the end of a citation, further guidance is provided with the source types.

As well as citations of sources, footnotes can also contain notes or definitions of terms you have used in the text that you feel should be explained further. Using footnotes enables you to include further information without disrupting the flow of your argument, which might occur if you included the note or definition in the main text. Use a superscript number in the text against the term in question and place the definition or note in the footnotes.

If a source is cited and then cited again, a shorten version of the citation can be given, cross-referencing the original footnote. If the subsequent citation is immediately after the first, then ibid plus the pinpoint can be used. Note that you don’t have to do this, you can repeat the full citation if you prefer.

In this example the journal article is first cited at footnote 12, then again at 24 with a cross-citation to number 12. It is cited immediately afterwards using ibid and a pinpoint to page 91.

For sources that you find online, if that source is also published in print, then cite it as if you have read the print version. Note that this applies to ebooks and ejournal articles that you may access online – cite them as if they were print copies.

Short quotes - up to three lines

Insert the quote into your text with single quotation marks.

Place footnote marker after the closing quotation mark and punctuation mark.

If the quote is a complete sentence lead in with a comma and capitalise the quote.

Long quotes - longer than three lines

Long quotes are separated from your text by indenting and leaving a line space above and below.

Quotation marks are not necessary. Use a colon to introduce the quoted passage.

If you start a sentence with a quotation mark, the first letter should be enclosed in square brackets.

  

Cases with neutral citations

The neutral citation style has been in use since 2001 when transcripts of cases were made available online, independent of any law reports. A neutral citation places the emphasis on the court where the case was heard, although the report information is still included in the citation if the case has been reported and this is where you are accessing it.

The above citation shows that the case was heard in the Court of Appeal Civil in 2008 and was case number 1419. The case was reported in the 2010 volume of the Queen’s Bench Division of the law reports (note that the report did not have a volume number denoting the year so the brackets containing the date are square - see below).

*Do not use full stops in the abbreviations.

Case without neutral citiations

For older citations the neutral citation information may be missing, cite as shown below.

The above citation tells you that the case was heard in 1917 in the House of Lords and reported in the Appeal Cases law reports. 

Square v round brackets

Square brackets are used when the year denotes the law report volume. If the volume number denotes the year published, use round brackets. Note that volume numbers may still be present, when using square brackets if the report has been issued in more than one volume for that year. If there isn’t a volume number use square brackets.

In the first example below, volume 88 of the Criminal Appeal Reports denotes the year, so round brackets are used. In the second example, the Appeal Cases series of reports are published by year, hence the square brackets. This particular year was published in more than one volume and the case mentioned was published in volume 2.

Case names

1. If there are multiple parties use, only the first claimant and/or defendant.
2. Abbreviate common words and phrases, e.g. DPP - Director of Public Prosecutions. Appendix section 4.2.4 of the OSCOLA 4th edition has a list of acceptable abbreviations.
3. Give the full name of the case when it is first mentioned in the text or footnotes and then abbreviate in subsequent mentions.

4. If the name of the case is stated in the text, there is no need to repeat it in the footnotes.

Which reports to use

The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting Law Reports are considered to be the most authoritative, so use these reports if possible. This series of reports includes the House of Lords/Supreme Court, Privy Council (Appeal Cases), Chancery Division, Family Division and Queen’s Bench. If your case is not reported in the Law Reports, then cite the Weekly Law Reports or All England Law Reports. If you still cannot locate the case, then use specialist reports such The Criminal Law Reports or Criminal Appeal Reports.

Pinpoints

Include the paragraph numbers at the end of the citation in square brackets. If you are pinpointing to more than one paragraph, put each number in square brackets and separate with a comma or dash if the paragraphs are in sequence.

If the pinpoint follows a citation with the court in brackets at the end, do not include the square brackets.

Judges’ names

If you wish to include reference to the judge at the end of the citation, include it in brackets at the end of the citation.

How the name is cited depends on the judge’s status or rank, common examples include:

Use the judge’s surname name – only use the first name if there are two judges with the same name; if this is case include the first name of the most junior judge.

See OSCOLA 4th edition section 2.1.7 for a full account of how to cite a judge’s name.

The law reports are where the judgements of cases are reported, i.e. published. See the section on cases for details on how to cite the cases.

If you have mentioned the full details of legislation in the text, there is no need to include it in the footnotes. But if the name of the Act or relevant section is not named, the full details must be included in the footnotes. If you need to include references to an Act several times in quick succession, abbreviate to the initials of the main words and include the date:

Parts of statutes

Statutes can be subdivided in the following ways:

Parts of Statutes

Section	Abbreviation
part/s	pt/pts
section/s	s/ss
subsection/s	sub-s/sub-ss
paragraph/s	para/paras
subparagraph/s	subpara/subparas
schedule/s	sch/schs

In the text, use the full form at the beginning of a sentence or where the Act name is not repeated. In the footnotes use the abbreviated form.

When referring to paragraphs within sections, put the paragraph number/letter in brackets after the section and don’t include ‘para’. So in the second example above we are referring to paragraph ‘a’ of subsection 2 of section 8 of the National Health Service Act.

Bills

Statutory Instruments

Note that the SI number is formed from the year and number.

SIs used to be called statutory rules and orders - cite in the same way, but use SR or O, followed by the number.

It is possible to abbreviate in the footnotes after the first full citation, so the above example could be
A(RAD)R 2016.

If you are referring to a part of an SI , add the part at the end in the following way

Parts of SI

Section	Abbreviation
regulation/s	reg/s
rule/s	r/rr
article/s	art/arts

 

The above citation would pinpoint to regulation 5, paragraph 1.

Since 1972 EU legislation, notices and information have been published in the The Official Journal of the European Communities. This is abbreviated to OJ. Series information is included in the citations: L for legislation, C for EU information and notices and S for invitations to tender.

EU Legislation

If you are citing Regulations, Directives, Decisions, Recommendations or Opinions, include the legislation type, number and title before following the above convention. Note that the year precedes the running number in Directives, but follows it in Regulations.

Short forms and pinpoints

It is possible to abbreviate in the text and footnotes after the first full citation. So the above citation could be abbreviated to the PNR Directive. In the footnotes you can just use the document type and number, so
Dir 2016/681.

When pinpointing include the part/paragraph information as shown for Statutory Instruments.

Cases

European Court of Justice and General Court

Since 1989 case numbers have been prefixed in the following way:

• C - European Court of Justice (ECJ). Do not add a C for pre-1989 cases
• T - General Court (GC) (CFI until 2009)
• F - Civil Service Tribunal

Where possible cite from the official reports – ECR. ECJ case are reported in volume 1 - ECR I-. GC cases are reported in volume 2 - ECR II-.

If a case is as yet unreported, use the notice citation from the OJ.

The European Court of Human Rights

For cases post 1996 cite from the official reports, Reports of Judgements and Decisions (ECHR) or the European Human Rights Reports (EHRR). Be consistent in the report series you choose to use. Cases prior to 1996 were reported in a series called Series A and numbered consecutively.

For unreported cases give the application number and then (ECtHR, date)

Cite cases and legislation from other jurisdiction as they would be cited in their own jurisdiction, but use minimal punctuation as is familiar in the OSCOLA convention, e.g. remove full stops from abbreviations. Refer to OSCOLA 4th Edition, sections 2.8 and 4.3 for further guidance.

Do not include edition details for first editions.

More than three authors

Edited or translated book

For edited or translated books add (ed) (tr) or (eds) (trs) after the author details:

Pinpointing

Use paragraphs when pinpointing if they are numbered, otherwise use page numbers. Paragraphs should have para preceding the number – para 214

Edited book

When citing a book chapter or essay in an edited book, cite the author of the chapter or essay and then include the book details. It is not necessary to include page or paragraph numbers.

Journal titles can be abbreviated – see Index to legal Citations and Abbreviations by Donald Raistrick, available in the Law Library reference collection. Or use Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations online: http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/. Be consistent if you choose to use abbreviations.

Journal without a separate volume number - the year denotes the volume. Note the square brackets with the year.

Journal with a separate volume number. Note the round bracket for the year, followed by the volume number.

Only include issue numbers (in brackets after the volume) if the page numbers begin again in each volume or issue, rather than continuing from the previous one.

If pinpointing, use a comma and insert the page number after the first page number

Treat as a journal article, and use the title or name of case and add (note) at the end.

Debates

HL - House of Lords debates

HC - House of Commons debates

For debates in Public Bill committees of the House of Commons, do not use HC, cite:

Joint & select committee reports

Select committees

Joint committees

As above, but include both House of Lords and House of Commons papers numbers in that order.

This includes White and Green Papers, treaties, government responses to select committee reports and inquiry reports.

* the form of command paper varies, but it should state it on the report, e.g. Cm, Cd, Cmnd, Cmd, C (1st series), C 2nd series.

* For consultation papers insert CP (Law Com CP No)

Print newspaper article

Online newspaper article

The page number is replaced with the online access details.

* If the citation is to an editorial piece without an author, cite the author as Editorial.

* Where possible identify the author. If that information is not available and you still consider the source to be credible, begin the citation with the title.

Interview

Only include the interviewers name if it is not you conducting the interview.

Email and letters

If the email or letter is to or from you, do not include your name, use ‘author’.

Divide the table into different jurisdictions (e.g. English, EU) then list in alphabetical order of the first significant word.

If you don’t have a long list of cases it is not necessary to divide by jurisdiction.

Do not use italics on the case names.

EU cases should be listed alphabetically by the first party name. Omit the word case and put the number in brackets after the case name as shown below. If you have divided by jurisdiction, list ECJ, CFI and Commission decisions separately in chronological and numerical order. Cite the case number first as in the footnotes, but omit the word case.

List alphabetically by the first significant word.

List every statute cited. Sub-divide each entry to show which parts of the statute are cited in your text.

Divide into jurisdictions if you have a long list.

Statutory instruments should be listed separately at the end.

Items should be arranged alphabetically and take the same form as you have used in your footnotes, with three important exceptions:

1. Author’s surname should come first.

2. Use the author’s initials only, rather than the full name

3. The titles of unattributed works (i.e. without a named author) should be preceded by a double em-dash. These entries should be placed at the beginning of the bibliography in alphabetical order based on the first major word of the title.

Works by the same author:

• arrange in order of publication – oldest first
• if there is more than one work published in the same year, order them alphabetically by title
• after the first entry replace the author’s name with two em-dashes
• order any co-authored titles after the author’s sole-authored works
• if there is more than one co-authored title, order alphabetically by the co-authors name.