Citation style
Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA)
OSCOLA is a footnote-based citation style developed at Oxford for legal scholarship. Every authority is cited in a numbered footnote; the bibliography lists primary and secondary sources separately.
Generate a citation in OSCOLAWhen to use it
- Final-year LLB essays and dissertations
- Submissions to law journals that adopt OSCOLA
- Comparative or international-law writing where a footnote style is preferred
Core rules
Footnotes, not in-text references
All citations sit in footnotes — never in brackets in the body. End the footnote with a full stop.
No full stops in abbreviations
Use 'CC', 'SCA', 'HL', 'UKSC' — not 'C.C.' or 'U.K.S.C.'.
Pinpoint references
After the citation, give the paragraph (in square brackets) or page number — e.g. [42] for paragraph 42.
Subsequent citations
Use 'ibid' for the immediately preceding source and a short form (party name + footnote number) for repeats.
Worked examples
South African case
Raw source: Carmichele v Minister of Safety and Security, Constitutional Court, 2001, vol 4 SA 938, paragraph 44
Carmichele v Minister of Safety and Security 2001 (4) SA 938 (CC) [44].
Statute
Raw source: Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, section 191
Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, s 191.
Journal article
Raw source: Cathi Albertyn, 'Substantive equality and transformation in South Africa', SAJHR vol 23 (2007), page 253
Cathi Albertyn, 'Substantive equality and transformation in South Africa' (2007) 23 SAJHR 253.
Book
Raw source: Iain Currie & Johan de Waal, The Bill of Rights Handbook, 6th edition, Juta, 2013
Iain Currie and Johan de Waal, The Bill of Rights Handbook (6th edn, Juta 2013).
Common pitfalls
- Do not italicise statute names — only case names are italicised.
- Pinpoint paragraph numbers go in square brackets [ ], page numbers do not.
- 'ibid' refers only to the immediately preceding footnote.