Why cite?

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. 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, and de Zwart M, Students' guide to legal writing, law exams and self assessment (Federation Press, 3rd ed., 2010).

Australian Guide to Legal Citation (Melbourne University Law Review Associaton, 3rd ed, 2010)
In print at Law Library Reference A114 M517A 2010 and available to view 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, (Full date)

Example:

Unreported Case with Medium Neutral Citation

R v Whyte [2004] VSCA 5 (12 April 2004)

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 title, Parties names, Date Opened for Signature or Signed, Treaty Series, Date of Entry into Force

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 (Publisher, Edition, 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 (LexisNexis Butterworths, 7th ed, 2007).

Edited book

Kinley, David (ed), Human Rights in Australian Law : Principles, Practice and Potential (Federation Press, 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 ( Lawbook, 2nd ed, 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) eLaw Journal : Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law [58] <http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v9n4/rimmer94.html>.

Internet sources

Author, Title (Full date of last update), Website name <URL>

Law reform agency reports

Name of Law Reform commission, 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, Title of Encyclopaedia, (at Full Date of last update) Title # Name of title, 'Chapter # Name of chapter' [Paragraph #].

Example:

LexisNexis, Halsbury's Laws of Australia, (at 15 March 2010) 85 Conflict of Laws, 'I General' [85].

Loose-leaf services

Publisher, Title of service, volume #., (at most Recent Service Number), Pinpoint

Example:

Bourke, JP, Bourke's Criminal Law, Victoria, vol 1 (at Service 95) [3.120]

Online service - volume numbers are not applicable.

Example:

Thomson Reuters, Lawyers Practice Manual, Victoria (at March 2010) [1.1.401]

Additional books for legal referencing

For further detail, see:
Stuhmcke, Anita. Legal Referencing ( LexisNexis, 3rd ed. 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, 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.

Canadian guide to uniform legal citation

New Zealand law style guide

Online tutorials and guides

Citing and referencing, how to acknowledge what you've read
Monash University Library online tutorial

Legal Citations of Aotearoa New Zealand (LCANZ) (University of Auckland)

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.

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, 3rd ed, 2010) is available to download as an EndNote style at the Library's EndNote page.

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