Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities
Encyclopedia
The Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities 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.
When you cite something for a second time, an abbreviation can be used. In a footnote referring back to a particular page and another footnote, this would be,
For European Union cases,
For European Court of Human Rights cases,
Books follow a similar pattern. Note the order is Author, Title (Edition, Publisher Year) page.
If a title and a subtitle have nothing in between, a colon should be used to separate them. A chapter in an edited book would be cited as follows.
EU legislation should be as follows.
Legal citation
Legal citation is the practice of crediting and referring to authoritative documents and sources. The most common sources of authority cited are court decisions , statutes, regulations, government documents, treaties, and scholarly writing....
in the United Kingdom. First developed by Peter Birks
Peter Birks
Peter Birks QC was the Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford from 1989 until his death. He was a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He earned an LLM at University College, London...
of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
Faculty of Law, and now in its 4th edition, it has been adopted by most law schools and publishers in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as well as the courts.
Cases
Cases are to be cited without periods in the names or the report names. If there is a neutral citation, which is generally the case after 2001 or 2002, cite it before the 'best' report: the Law Reports (AC, QB, Ch etc.), or the WLR or the All ER.- Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893] 1 QB 256
- Transfield Shipping Inc v Mercator Shipping Inc (The Achilleas) [2008] UKHL 48, [2009] 1 AC 61
When you cite something for a second time, an abbreviation can be used. In a footnote referring back to a particular page and another footnote, this would be,
- Carlill (n 12) 854
- The Achilleas (n 13) [12]
For European Union cases,
- Case 240/83 Procureur de la République v ADBHU [1985] ECR 531
For European Court of Human Rights cases,
- Omojudi v UK (2010) 51 EHRR 10
Journals and books
Journal articles, books etc. should be cited with the author's name as shown in the work begin cited. Journal abbreviations are in roman, with no periods (full stops). If the journal does not have consecutive volume numbers, the year should be shown in square brackets, as in the second example.- Alison L Young, In Defence of Due Deference' (2009) 72 MLR 554
- Paul Craig, 'Theory, "Pure Theory" and Values in Public Law' [2005] PL 440.
Books follow a similar pattern. Note the order is Author, Title (Edition, Publisher Year) page.
- Joseph Raz, The Authority of Law: Essays on Law and Morality (2nd edn, OUP 2009).
If a title and a subtitle have nothing in between, a colon should be used to separate them. A chapter in an edited book would be cited as follows.
- Justine Pila, 'The Value of Authorship in the Digital Environment' in William H Dutton and Paul W Jeffreys (eds), World Wide Research: Reshaping the Sciences and Humanities in the Century of Information (MIT Press 2000)
Legislation
UK legislation should always be written without any formatting, with the year at the end. The section is abbreviated without any periods.- Employment Rights Act 1996Employment Rights Act 1996The Employment Rights Act 1996 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament passed by the Conservative government to codify the existing law on individual rights in UK labour law. Previous statutes, dating from the Contracts of Employment Act 1963, included the Redundancy Payments Act 1965, the...
s 86(1)(a)
EU legislation should be as follows.
- Council Directive (EC) 2001/29 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society [2001] OJ L167/10
Hansard
- HC Deb 3 February 1977, vol 389, cols 973-76
- Joint Committee on Human Rights, Legislative Scrutiny: Equality Bill (second report); Digital Economy Bill (2009-10, HL 73, HC 425) 14-16