Legal Writing
OSCOLA Referencing
16.05.2023
Citation
• Research is the systematic investigation into and study of materials
and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
• “A scientific work does not stand alone; it is embedded in the
‘literature’ of the subject.”
• Arguments play a vital role in this process. Arguments based on
sources.
• A citation is a reference to a source.
Referencing
Lisa Webley, Legal Writing (1st edn, Cavendish Publishing 2005)
What is referencing (or citing)?
Page 67: “Put simply, referencing is giving credit to the author who
had the idea or wrote the words that you are making use of in your
essay or problem question answer.”
What is the Purpose?
• intellectual honesty (or avoiding plagiarism),
• attribute prior or unoriginal work/ideas to the correct sources,
• allow the reader to determine independently whether the referenced
material supports the author's argument in the claimed way, and
• help the reader gauge the strength and validity of the material the
author has used.
Referencing
Lisa Webley, Legal Writing (1st edn, Cavendish Publishing 2005)
What is plagiarism - රචනා සොරකම?
Page 68:
“Plagiarism is taking (some would say stealing) others words OR
ideas without stating whose words or ideas they are and where
they came from. It is not just a case of failing to put quotation
marks round someone else’s words.”
Referencing
Lisa Webley, Legal Writing (1st edn, Cavendish Publishing 2005)
When should you reference?
Page 68:
“You should cite the other person’s work if:
(1)you are quoting their words;
(2)you are paraphrasing their words by using their ideas but not
their exact words (any ideas that you have not come up with
yourself).”
Forms of Citation
OXFORD, HARVARD, MLA, AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
(ASA), AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (APA)
Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal
Authorities (OSCOLA)
• Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA)
4th edition -oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf (ox.ac.uk)
• Quick Referencing Guide
• OSCOLA is a footnote style: all citations appear in footnotes. OSCOLA
does not use endnotes or in-text citations, such as ‘(Brown, 2007)’.
• Longer works, such as books and theses, include citations in tables of
cases, legislation, and bibliographies.
• OSCOLA is a guide to legal citation.
Golden Rules
• Consistency
• Consideration for the reader
OSCOLA Referencing
Primary Sources Secondary Sources
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
General rule – don’t use full stops in abbreviations. Separate citations with a semi-
colon ( ; ) when there are multiple citations
(1) Cases
Cases are reported in ‘Law Reports’
In Sri Lanka –
1. New Law Reports - NLR
2. Sri Lanka Law Reports – Sri LR (from 1978 onwards)
3. Not reported in Law Reports
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – New Law Reports - NLR
Goonesinghe v Mayor of Colombo (1944) 46 NLR 85
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – New Law Reports
Goonesinghe v Mayor of Colombo (1944) 46 NLR 85
Case Name
Italics
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – New Law Reports
Goonesinghe v Mayor of Colombo (1944) 46 NLR 85
Year
(Round Brackets)
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – New Law Reports
Goonesinghe v Mayor of Colombo (1944) 46 NLR 85
Volume number
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – New Law Reports
Goonesinghe v Mayor of Colombo (1944) 46 NLR 85
First page
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Sri Lanka Law Reports – Sri LR
Mowjood v Pussadeniya [1987] 2 Sri LR 287
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Sri Lanka Law Reports
Mowjood v Pussadeniya [1987] 2 Sri LR 287
Case Name
Italics
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Sri Lanka Law Reports
Mowjood v Pussadeniya [1987] 2 Sri LR 287
Year
[Square Brackets]
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Sri Lanka Law Reports
Mowjood v Pussadeniya [1987] 2 Sri LR 287
Volume number
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Sri Lanka Law Reports
Mowjood v Pussadeniya [1987] 2 Sri LR 287
First page
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Unreported Cases
Chandrakanthi v Gamini Kumara, SC Appeal No 127/2019, Supreme
Court Minutes 20.05.2022
Or
Chandrakanthi v Gamini Kumara, SC Appeal No 127/2019, SC
Minutes 20.05.2022
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Pinpointing
When you are direct quoting or referring to an idea contained on a
particular page of the judgement – ‘pinpointing’
Mowjood v Pussadeniya [1987] 2 Sri LR 287, 289
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – Pinpointing
When you are direct quoting or referring to an idea contained on a
particular page of the judgement – ‘pinpointing’
Mowjood v Pussadeniya [1987] 2 Sri LR 287, 289
Page containing the quote/idea/section you wish to refer to
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(1) Cases – If citing a particular judge
Jayasinghe v Kiribindu and Others [1997] 2 Sri LR 1, 6 (Amerasinghe
J)
Page reference to the particular judge
OSCOLA Referencing – Primary Sources
(2) Legislation
Rent Act No 7 of 1972 (as amended), s 22(1)(C)
Administration of Justice Law No 44 of 1973, s 1
Evidence Ordinance No 14 of 1895 (as amended), s 155
OSCOLA Referencing
Primary Sources Secondary Sources
OSCOLA (4th edn) –
Pages 33-43
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(1) Books
Hilaire Barnett, Constitutional and Administrative Law (7th edn,
Routledge-Cavendish 2009), 137
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(1) Books
Hilaire Barnett, Constitutional and Administrative Law (7th edn,
Routledge-Cavendish 2009), 137
Author
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(1) Books
Hilaire Barnett, Constitutional and Administrative Law (7th edn,
Routledge-Cavendish 2009), 137
Title of the book
Italics
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(1) Books
Hilaire Barnett, Constitutional and Administrative Law (7th edn,
Routledge-Cavendish 2009), 137
Edition (if any), publisher, year of publication
(Round brackets)
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(1) Books
Hilaire Barnett, Constitutional and Administrative Law (7th edn,
Routledge-Cavendish 2009), 137
Page on which information/quotation appears
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(1) Books – Contributions to edited
books
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(1) Books – Contributions to edited books
Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, ‘Gandhi Memorial Oration: A Peace with
Democracy, a Peace with Dignity’ in Rohan Edrisinha and Asanga Welikela
(eds), Essays on Federalism in Sri Lanka (Centre for Policy Alternatives 2009)
59
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(2) Journal Articles
JAG Griffith, ‘The Common Law and the Political Constitution’ (2001) 117
Law Quarterly Review 42
OR
JAG Griffith, ‘The Common Law and the Political Constitution’ (2001) 117
LQR 42
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(2) Journal Articles - pinpointing
JAG Griffith, ‘The Common Law and the Political Constitution’ (2001) 117
Law Quarterly Review 42, 64
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(2) Online Journal Articles
Graham Greenleaf, ‘The Global Development of Free Access to Legal
Information’ (2010) 1(1) EJLT < http://ejlt.org//article/view/17 > accessed 16
May 2023
or
Graham Greenleaf, ‘The Global Development of Free Access to Legal
Information’ (2010) 1(1) European Journal of Law and Technology <
http://ejlt.org//article/view/17 > accessed 16 May 2023
OSCOLA Referencing – Secondary Sources
(3) Electronic sources – for example, online newspaper article
DBS Jeyaraj, ‘Killing of five Trinco students: Emblematic case of impunity’
Daily FT (Colombo, 2 January 2022) <https://www.ft.lk/columns/Killing-of-
five-Trinco-students-Emblematic-case-of-impunity/4-728650> accessed 1 June
2022
OSCOLA Referencing
Citing something that is cited by someone else
LL Fuller, ‘The Case of the Speluncean Explorers’ as cited in MDA Freeman,
Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (9th edn, Sweet and Maxwell 2014) 26-39
OSCOLA Referencing
Read 4th Edition, Pages 3-12
Using Latin abbreviations – avoid?
e.g. exempli gratia
Latin abbreviation of and others
“Et al.” is one of the more common Latin abbreviations used in scholarly
writing and APA Style.
Group Exercise
• Reported Case
• Unreported Case
• Statute
• Book
• Edited Books
• Book Chapter
• Journal article
• Website
• Newspaper
