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