The APA manual only provides examples for American legal documents. The guidance on these pages has been put together in consultation with the Law Librarian, but if you search for advice on other websites you might find slightly different formats.
You must choose one consistent way to reference legal documents throughout your assignment, sticking as close to APA format as you can.
For Law courses, you may be required to use another referencing system (e.g. OSCOLA). Please ask your lecturer for further guidance.
Copy the style of brackets from the source.
When referring to a case for the first time, include:
If you refer to the same case again, just include:
Copy the style of brackets from the source.
Douglas v Hello! Magazine [2001] 2 WLR 992
It is best practice to use a narrative citation for Acts of Parliament: you should include the title and year of the Act within the structure of your sentence, and usually the section number. Avoid putting Acts of Parliament in brackets whenever possible.
In your list of references, just give the title and year of the Act of Parliament. You do not need any further information.
It is best practice to use a narrative citation for Statutory Instruments: you should include the title and year/SI number within the structure of your sentence, and usually the regulation number. Avoid putting Statutory Instruments in brackets whenever possible.
In your list of references, just give the title of the Statutory Instrument and the year followed SI number. You do not need any further information.
legislation type | number
It is best practice to use a narrative citation for legislation: you should include the type of legislation (Directives or Regulations) and legislation number and the Article number within the structure of your sentence. Avoid putting legislation in brackets whenever possible.
legislation type | number | title
In your list of references, just give the legislation type and the number of the legislation and the title of the legislation. You do not need any further information.
If you have questions not answered in this guide:
If you would like a hard copy of this quick guide, please ask at the Welcome Desk in Lanchester Library.