The

European Law School

BASIC STYLEBOOK

1
2
INTRODUCTION

LAYOUT
Front page
Sample front page
Format and page setup
Spelling, grammar and style

SUBMISSION
Paper document
Electronic document

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Format
Primary sources
Legislation, treaties etc.
Historical texts
Case law
Secondary sources
Books, journals etc.
Electronic sources
Non-academic sources

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4
INTRODUCTION
The Stylebook was conceived to assist both the students and the staff of the European Law
School. In the form it is now brought before you, this Stylebook is a first installment. More
elements will be added in the (near) future, not only on technical subjects such as plagiarism,
exams, evaluations and complaints, but also on such diverse topics as referencing and quotations,
to finding and evaluating sources.
The guidelines and rules proposed in the Stylebook are meant as a default. Coordinators and
planning groups are free to devise their own guidelines, to be published in the introductions of the
individual course manuals. It is therefore important to always check in a course manual whether
changes have been implemented. When there are no changes indicated, then the default
regulations of the Stylebook are applicable.

LAYOUT
There are numerous reasons for requiring a particular layout for assignments. Most have to do
with facilitating and expediting correction and archiving of the assignments. Other considerations
have to do with the necessity of law graduates being able to apply layout requirements set by law
or by a body such as a journal’s Board of Editors.
Students are to adhere strictly to the layout rules. They may be penalized for unauthorized
deviation from these rules in a number of ways, varying from a deduction from their grade to a
refusal of their assignment.

Front page

Every assignment, paper, essay etc., no matter how short, should always have a front page
containing the following information:

In the top right corner:

• Date of submission
• ID-number
• Name of student (if requested by assignment giver)
• Name of the course
• Name of assignment
• Number of words
• Tutorial group number (if requested by assignment giver)
• Name of tutor or supervisor (if requested by assignment giver)

In the center of the page:

• Title (+ subtitle)
You may use bold typeface, but no underlining or italics.
Note: Do not give fancy titles to assignments where names are set by the assignment giver,
e.g. ‘Assignment 3: Further analysis’. In such a case the name of the assignment is its title
• Illustration (optional, and only when expressly allowed by assignment giver)
• The front page is always on a separate page and contains no other information or text than the
information specified above.

See the example on the next page:

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[Sample front page] 18 October, 2010
ID 123456
[Peter Johnston]
Skills Training for Lawyers
Assignment 8: Essay
Number of words: 1453
[Practical group 13]
[Tutor: S. van Leeuwen]

THE ADOPTION OBSTACLE COURSE

Adoption by same-sex couples in the USA

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Format and page setup

The basic rules for the layout of every paper are very simple:

• All assignments are typed, never hand-written

• All assignments have a front page
• All assignments with chapters and/or (sub)sections have a table of contents
• All referenced assignments have footnotes
• All referenced assignments have a bibliography
• Paper size: A4
• Use white paper
• Use page numbers
• Lettering: Times New Roman 12-point
• Line spacing: 1,5 throughout
• Margins:
top and bottom: 2,54 cm (standard in Word page setup)
left margin: 3,17 cm (standard in Word page setup)
right margin: 4 cm, justified (has to be adjusted in Word page setup)
• Indention: indent the first line of each paragraph 0,5 inch from the left margin, except for the
first paragraph of your paper or after a blank line
• Headers and footers: do not use headers and footers unless expressly allowed
• Avoid (sub)sectioning in shorter essays
• Chapters and sections in longer essays have numbers + headings

Spelling, grammar and style

Spelling:

• Assignments should be free from mistakes in spelling, grammar and style and contain no
typo’s.
• The faculty has chosen for the British English language as standard. This means for example
that you should write colour as opposed to color, favourite as opposed to favorite, aluminium
as opposed to aluminum. However, the endings –ize and –ization are to be preferred as
opposed to –ise and –isation.
• Spelling should therefore follow the Oxford English Dictionary or the Concise Oxford
English Dictionary.
• All assignments should be checked with a spellchecker, though this does not relieve the
assignment’s author of responsibility for mistakes in spelling, grammar or style and for
remaining typo’s.

Abbreviations

• In general, every abbreviation should be followed by a full stop –e.g., no., art., dr.
• No full stops are required where the abbreviation consists of capital letters – EU, EFTA,
ECHR

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Use of italics

The following terms and phrases should be printed in italics, both in the main text and in
footnotes:
• Titles of books, journals, newspapers, pamphlets etc. mentioned in the assignment, e.g. the
Oxford English Dictionary or Rawls’A Theory of Justice
• Case names, e.g. Levin v. Staatssecretaris van Justitie, the Bettray Case, Blaizot
• Foreign words or short phrases, e.g. Bundesamt, kantonrechter, acquis communautaire, ius
commune. However, this does not apply to common Latin abbreviations such as e.g., et seq.,
cf., i.e., viz.
• Words or phrases the author wishes to emphasize (to be used sparingly)
• Neologisms, but only the first time they are used in a text; at that time, they are accompanied
by a reference to the coiner – e.g. “For this purpose, De Groot coined the phrases source
language legal system and target language legal system1”, of course accompanied by a
correct reference to - in this case- "Gerard-René de Groot; 'Een nieuw tweetalig juridisch
woordenboek', in: Recht en Vertalen [Law and Translation]. Deventer: Kluwer, 1993" in the
bibliography and "De Groot, 1993", accompanied by the right page number, in the footnote

Grammar, style and punctuation

European Law School students are expected to have mastered the English language, in both
speech and writing, at a consummate level of proficiency. This means that they must be able to
speak and write in an articulate and comprehensible manner, using grammatically correct and
stylish English, with few mistakes or errors. An initial period of getting used to English as a
teaching language will be taken into account, but a steep learning curve should be expected. The
level of English will be taken into account when grading assignments, papers and exams.

Reaching a high level of proficiency in the English language is the sole responsibility of the
student. Students whose English language proficiency is below par, are advised to take language
courses, for instance at the University’s Language Centre.

• For questions on grammar, style and punctuation, please consult The English Style Book
(except chapter 6), to be found at: http://www.litencyc.com/stylebook/stylebook.php

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SUBMISSION
Assignments can be submitted in hardcopy or in electronic format. Maastricht university is
committed to being environmentally friendly, therefore electronic submission is preferred. Given
that electronic submission is the norm, the assignment giver will specifically state when hardcopy
submission of a paper document is required instead of, or in addition to, electronic submission.
A generally accepted, though often unwritten rule of law is that the responsibility to
communicate a message of whatever kind to the intended recipient is the sole responsibility of the
sender. That includes any academic assignment. Therefore, the responsibility to make sure
that a readable version of any student assignment reaches the assignment giver on time
rests squarely with the student, whether this be a hardcopy or electronic document.
Nevertheless, the faculty wishes to expedite correct submission as much as is possible.
Therefore, there are a number of rules and recommendations, which are listed below.

Paper document

Staple

• Use a single staple in the top left corner to bind the paper document.
• Do not use a paper clip of any kind. Paper clips disappear causing the paper to fall apart.
• Do not use a binder or folder of any kind. Fancy folders do not make your assignment better,
they only make it more difficult to access the document for grading or to transport and
archive a stack of assignments.

Submission medium

• Best practice is to hand deliver your paper to the appointed destination yourself.
• A student may choose to hand in the paper through other means, e.g. the mail or a fellow
student, but any and all mishaps, mistakes and failures regarding the submission that occur as
a result are attributable to the student alone.

Electronic documents

Support

Electronic documents are to be uploaded via a computer. This can be a private desktop computer
or laptop, or a university computer. There is important information that you should be aware of
regarding private desktop computers and laptops.
Maastricht University has made a number of choices regarding ICTS helpdesk support of
computer systems, browsers and applications. One of the most important choices is that
Macintosh products or products adapted for Macintosh are not supported.
This is much more important than students realize! When something goes wrong with
uploading assignments and papers, ICTS helpdesk will give their best effort to help you, but only
if you are working with the material and the programs they support. Otherwise, you are
completely on your own. This may mean you will be unable to upload an assignment, which in
turn could lead you to fail the course. For this reason, the faculty has chosen to require
compliance with these choices from the students.
See what ICTS can and can’t, will and won’t do for you on www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ICTS.

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Computer systems

The ICTS helpdesk will help you with certain aspects. Among them: installing wireless and VPN
on your laptop and desktop computer, rename accounts and change passwords, setting up anti-
virus software and setting up Outlook. However, they only do this for a number of Windows
systems, not for any other system.

• Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 are supported

• Apple, Linux and any other computer system are not supported

Browsers

• The only browser recommended and supported by ICTS is Internet Explorer. This browser
has the best compatibility with our EleUM system and our student email accounts.
• All other browsers, such as Safari, Google Chrome or Firefox, are not supported.

Applications

• The ICTS Service desk does not support specific computer applications.
• However, they will give their best effort to help out with immediate problems in the
Microsoft Office applications Word, Powerpoint and Excel.
• Nevertheless, students who do not know how to work with the finer features of Microsoft
Office programs should educate themselves further as the helpdesk is not a teaching facility.

Submission of electronic documents

Word processor

• All electronic documents are to be in Microsoft Office Word format. Microsoft Office Word
for Mac, versions 2004 and later are accepted as well, earlier versions are not. Keep in mind
though that Microsoft Office Word for Mac is not supported by the ICTS helpdesk.
• This means that the document has an automatically generated suffix of .doc (Microsoft Office
2003 and earlier) or .docx (Microsoft Office 2007 and later, Word for Mac 2004 and later).
• Uploaded documents with other formats frequently cannot be opened. For that same reason,
the Word 97-2003 & 6.0/95 –RTF format which also presents the extension .doc cannot be
used as it also results in a corrupted file which cannot be opened.
• Files with other extensions, such as “.odt”, “.dot”, “.xml”, “.wps”, “.txt”, “.rtf”, “.docm”etc.
also cannot be submitted.
• Consequently any and all mishaps, mistakes and failures regarding the submission and
accessibility of documents with the wrong format are attributable to the student alone.
• Documents in PDF format can be opened, but are not accepted because it is either very
difficult or impossible for staff to grade these documents electronically, should they wish to
do so.

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Naming instructions

• Assignment givers can set requirements for the naming of the electronic document to be
submitted. Students are to adhere strictly to such naming instructions. They may be penalized
for unauthorized deviation from these rules in a number of ways, varying from a deduction
from their grade to a refusal of their assignment.
• Naming instructions reflect the particular nature of the assignments in a course and will
therefore vary considerably. There will be elements designed to identify the student and
elements to identify the specific assignment by that student. Look for the specific naming
instructions in the Introduction section of the course manual.

Submission medium

• Assignment givers can instruct students to submit assignments via EleUM or via e-mail.
• In EleUM, assignments can, depending on the instructions of the assignment giver, be
uploaded in Assignment, Safe Assignment or the Discussion board.
• Students should submit any and all documents from a university computer.
• In case submitting from a university computer does not succeed, students are required to try
submitting from at least one other university computer.
• In case submitting turns out to be impossible from at least two university computers, students
are to contact the assignment giver immediately.
• In case a student does not try to submit from a second university computer, or does not
immediately contact the assignment giver after uploading from a second computer has failed
as well, any and all mishaps, mistakes and failures regarding the submission and accessibility
of documents are attributable to the student alone.
• Students may choose to submit from a non-university computer, but in that case any and all
mishaps, mistakes and failures regarding the submission and accessibility of documents are
attributable to the student alone.
• The browser to be used is Internet Explorer, whether on a university computer or a non-
university computer. The reason for this is that all other browsers are known to be erratically
problematical in the connection with EleUM and are not supported by the ICTS Service desk.
Students should always check whether the uploading has been successful and whether the
uploaded document is accessible by opening the uploaded document again. It is best to do
this from a different computer than the one used for the uploading.
• Students should always make sure to start uploading in time, well before the expiration time
of the uploading window, to allow for troubleshooting and checking.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
The bibliography of an assignment, paper, essay or thesis, lists all sources used in the preparation
of the product. The formal requirements for bibliographies differ greatly between publishers,
editors of journals and academic institutions. To make sure that Maastricht students will never be
fazed by whatever requirements they might meet in this regard, the faculty has decided to set the
highest possible standard for bibliographies of student papers.
Many scholars and scientists list in their bibliographies only those sources they utilize more
than once or twice in reference. To those sources used only once or twice, they refer in footnotes,
giving the full bibliographical data there. As, however, the bibliography of a student writing
product also serves to allow the tutor, teacher or supervisor to see at a glance what sources the
student has used, students are expected to insert all their used sources in the bibliography.

When a source, be it primary or secondary, is listed in the bibliography, this indicates that it has
been consulted from the first page to the last. This means that all material relating to the subject
of the writing product is retrieved from the source.
Not doing so could be seen as a form of inversed fraud: suppressing available information.
Suppose a source is used to bring an argument, or to corroborate an argument from another
source. If the student fails to see, because they did not read that far, that a few pages further down
information is presented that is relevant to the topic as well, then this could be quite serious. If
this information refutes earlier propositions or arguments brought from the same source, or
refutes arguments brought from another source, the student should have seen this: it is, after all,
assumed that the whole source was consulted.
The student will thus be seen as having suppressed these arguments, perhaps because they did
not fit the theories and conclusions of the paper. That is a (serious!) form of academic dishonesty.
The two most important points regarding a bibliography are therefore:

• All used sources are presented in the bibliography, including those used only once
• Presenting a source in the bibliography affirms that the source was consulted in its entirety

Format

Divisions

Nowadays, it becomes more and more customary to group together the different types of sources
under separate headings. The first division is between primary and secondary sources. These are
then further divided. A usable subdivision of sources and one that we will take as starting point is:

Primary sources
Legislation, treaties etc.
Historical sources
Case-law
Secondary sources
Books, articles in journals etc.
Electronic sources
Non-academic sources

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Primary sources provide original facts and data: the contents of a rule of law (legislation
and treaties), the application of a rule of law (case-law), the way a rule of law came to be
(parliamentary proceedings, NGO reports etc.), the facts of a case (case law).

Secondary sources provide an explanation of the contents, application and history of

primary sources, an opinion on the contents, application and future of primary sources
and/or the theoretical background to any of these.

Note: all original facts and data must be referenced from primary sources, not secondary
ones!

Elements of bibliographical entries

Each bibliographical entry consists of certain mandatory elements. Which elements are required,
differs from source type to source type. One important element of these entries is the heading.
This is written in bold typeface and contains the surname of the author and the year of publication:
Rammelloo 2001, Beekhuis 1990. This element is used in two ways:

• To alphabetize the (chapter or section of the) bibliography

• To expedite referencing in footnotes

When the headings are used for referencing purposes, two possible confusing situations can occur:
one author or set of authors can have multiple publications to their name in the bibliography; or
there are multiple authors, not necessarily all represented in the bibliography, with exactly the
same name.

Multiple publications from the same author(s):

• When the publications stem from different years, they are differentiated by that year. This is
the reason why the year is always mentioned in the heading.
• When the publications stem from the same year, they receive an additional letter code in the
heading, immediately after the publication year: Hartlief 2008a, Hartlief 2008b, Hartlief
2008c.

Multiple authors with the same name:

Sometimes an author will coincidentally have the same surname as another author. For that
reason, it has been common practice for a very long time to add the initials of authors in a
bibliography. However, sometimes even the initials coincide. Therefore many academic journals
nowadays require registration of the full given names of authors in bibliographies.
It is immaterial whether the homonymous authors are both (or all) represented in the
bibliography. The goal of a bibliography is to inform the reader without ambiguity about the
identity of the author and distinguish them from other existing authors. Most of those ambiguities
will be solved by taking up the first names of authors in the bibliography.

Sometimes, the similarity of names is no coincidence. Already in Rome there were families who
produced generation after generation of jurists and lawyers, but families who seem to have the
law running in their veins do occur in all times. A problem with families is that they often have
naming traditions. A good example is the Scaevola family in Rome who had multiple members of
different generations named Quintus Mucius Scaevola. Another example is the Asser family, a
well known Dutch family of lawyers that counts Tobias Michael Carel Asser, co-laureate of the

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1911 Nobel Peace Prize, as one of its prominent members. In that family several generations have
the first name Carel (including his grandfather Carel and his father Carel Daniel), although often
they can be distinguished through their other given names.
When even registering the given names in full does not help, there are two possibilities. When
it concerns a father/grandfather and son/grandson, sr. (senior, the elder) and jr. (junior, the
younger) can be added. A good example of this are Oliver Wendell Holmes sr. and Oliver
Wendell Holmes jr. When there is a different relationship, or when there are more than two
authors with the exact same name, the years of birth and demise are mentioned between brackets
behind the name.
If that is not possible because these dates are not known, then a distinguishing feature can be
used. In these cases such addenda are often already established in literature. For instance, the four
Roman jurists named Quintus Mucius Scaevola which were mentioned earlier are respectively
referred to as Quintus Mucius Scaevola (praetor), who lived in the latter half of the third century
BC and who was father to Quintus Mucius Scaevola (consul), who lived in the first half of the
second century BC, who was grandfather to Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur (through his son
Quintus) who died in 88 BC and Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex (through his son Lucius) who
died in 82 BC.

To sum up:
• In a bibliographic entry the names of the author are given in full
• When this is not enough to distinguish the author from other authors with the same name,
then the name is followed by
o Sr. or jr. when there are only two authors of that name and they are (grand)father and
(grand)son
o The years of birth and demise between brackets when the relationship is not that of
(grand)father / (grand)son or when there are more than two authors with the same
name
o A distinguishing feature, when the (approximate) years of birth and demise are not
known

Additional information
Sometimes some additional information needs to be given to apprise the reader of the nature or
recording method of a source. For instance, the source could be a work in progress, or a speech
by person A which was put to paper by person B. Or the source is an audio- or videotape of a
speech, lecture or even book or article. Or the source consisted of material archived on
microchips or CD-ROM. In that case, the information is put in square brackets directly after the
title: [working paper], [audiotape], [speech by X at Y on date Z], [CD-ROM] etc.

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Primary sources
Legislation

Current legislation is not normally entered into the bibliography.

There is only one exception to this rule: when it is for whatever reason important to know
which text has been used. This occurs when editions of a piece of legislation
• differ with respect to content between the different legal languages of a particular legal
system,
• differ textually between the publishers of that legislation, or
• when a translation is consulted instead of the original text.

Note, however, that in case a translation is used legislation should always be consulted in its
original form as well; translations can only be used as sole source in exceptional circumstances.

Even when a bibliographical entry is necessary, though, the references in the text are only to the
articles of law themselves, not to the edition used. A good example of this is the Maastricht
Collection which provides, inter alia, translations of legal rules from the French, German and
Dutch legal systems for educational purposes in Maastricht's European Law School. References
to legal rules taken from the Collection should be to the law itself, not to the Collection.

The elements of the bibliographical template for legislation are:

• Legislation is alphabetized under the citation title of the law, therefore:

• Heading with the citation title of the law and year of promulgation (in bold)
• Full title of the law (in italics), followed by a full stop
• When necessary, the official medium of promulgation, followed by a comma
• The year of promulgation
• In case of differing legal languages: [the consulted language] between square brackets
• In case of differing editors: the consulted edition

See on how to enter translated sources below under books, in pre-modern works.

See for non-current legislation below, under historical sources.

Parliamentary proceedings

Most parliamentary proceedings of European countries can be found electronically on the official
website of that country’s government. These proceedings include, among others, the minutes of
parliamentary sessions, draft bills and parliamentary reports.
Minutes or documents pertaining to current legislation are entered under this section, minutes
or documents pertaining to legislation no longer in force belong under historical sources.

For entries on parliamentary proceedings use the local style of the jurisdiction involved.

Examples:

UK:
HC Debs., vol. 989, col. 287, 25 Apr. 1980 [for House of Commons Debates].

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HC Debs., vol. 24, WA, col. 215, 12 Mar. 1976 [for Written Answers (WA)].
HL Debs., vol. 158, col. 198, 23 Jan. 1993 [for House of Lords Debates].
Cong. Rec., 77th Cong., 1st Sess, vol. 87, pt. 6, 2687 (27 Mar. 1941).

Treaties

Treaties are officially published in different locations. Generally, multilateral treaties will be
published in a series like the United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) or the Council of Europe
Treaty Series (CETS). European Union Treaties are published in the Official Journal of the
European Union

Examples:
Lisbon Recognition Convention (CETS no. 165)

Consolidated version of the Treaty of the European Union of 30 March 2010, [2010] OJ C 83/01
Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie (Treaty on the functioning of the European
Union), Trb. 2008, 51 (Trb. Stands for Tractatenblad the official publication for Treaties in the
Kingdom of the Netherlands, so this is the official publication of the TFEU in the Netherlands).

Current treaties are not normally entered into the bibliography for the same reasons as current
legislation (see above).

International legal instruments

General Assembly Resolution: GA Res. 41/133, 4 December 1986

Security Council Resolution: SC Res. 181, 7 August 1963 or SC Res. 181 (1963)

European Regulation: Regulation (EC) 764/2008, 9 July 2008, [2008] OJ L 218/21

European Directive: Directive 98/5/EC, 16 February 1998, as lastly amended [2006] OJ L
363/141

NB: Both in Regulation and Directives the relevant international organisation is defined. In
the two examples included above, both post-Maastricht but pre-Lisobon, the designation is
“EC” (European Community). In pre-Maastricht situation the designation was “EEC” (fe.
Directive 77/249/EEC). In post-Lisbon situations it may be readily assumed that the
designation changes to the format of “Directive year/number/EU” for Directives and
“Regulation (EU) number/year”for Regulations.

Historical sources

With historical sources it can be quite difficult to decide whether they belong under primary or
secondary sources.

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 When a source is primarily referred to for facts and data, it belongs under primary sources in
the section historical sources. The bibliographical entry is of the same format as a book, see
below, under secondary sources, section books.
When a source is primarily referred to for background, explanations, theories and opinions, it
belongs under secondary sources. See for entry into the bibliography of those sources below,
under secondary sources, section books, subsection pre-modern works.
A special case concerns a historical source that has been commented on extensively in a
modern edition, or is consulted via an annotated translation. These sources are entered twice:
once in the primary sources section historical sources under the name of the original author, once
in the secondary sources section books under the name of the translator/editor. See for entry into
the bibliography of those sources again below, under secondary sources, section books,
subsection pre-modern works. References in footnotes can then be differenced according to their
referencing aim.

There are also conventions for entries on historical archive material in bibliographies. The
number of students consulting historical archives for their papers is, however, very small. These
students are referred to their supervisor for his or her wishes on the way of entering the material
into their bibliographies.

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Case law

Case law is a primary source, although it can sometimes carry secondary source elements in
affixed commentaries by noted jurists and lawyers. Case law is classified by jurisdiction. Within
each national grouping further subdivisioning occurs. First, come judicial decisions from the
highest court(s), arranged by date from the oldest decision to the newest. Then, the judicial
decisions of appeal courts, followed by the judicial decisions in first instance, both also arranged
by date.
Conventions for the bibliographical presentation of case law differ from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction. The rule is that a jurisdiction’s own conventions in this regard are applied to that
jurisdiction’s case law. For some European jurisdictions which feature significantly in the
European Law School teaching materials examples will be given below of that jurisdiction’s style
in case law references. For other jurisdiction, check other publications on how these judicial
decisions are referenced.

Examples:

Netherlands
HR 19-5-1967, NJ 1967, 261 (Saladin-HBU)

France
Cass. 21 November 1955, J.C.P. 1955. II. 9004
Cass. 8 July 1969, J.C.P. 1970, II, 16182
Cass 19 December 2000, Bull. Civ. I, No. 333, p. 215

Germany
BGH 17 January 1968, NJW 1968, 499 = BGHZ 49, 250
BGH 20 September 2000, BGHZ 145, 158 = NJW 2000, 3500

United Kingdom
In case law-oriented common law systems such as the system of England and Wales the rules on
presenting case law are very specific.
Cite UK cases as follows:
• Names of the parties, in italics, separated by ‘v’
• Year of law report in square brackets
Note: Use rounded brackets if the year is not needed to identify the correct volume
• Volume number in which the case is reported
• Abbreviation for the law report title
• Page number or case number
• Court in brackets

Examples:

Taylor v Caldwell (1863) 3 B & S 826

Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl [1983] 2 AC 34
Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society [1998] 1 All ER 98 (HL)

Since 2001 most key judgments have a “neutral citation”which helps identify the case on the
internet even when it has not been published in a series of law reports. You do not need to note
the court as this is indicated in the neutral citation.

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Examples:

Star Energy Weald Basin Limited and another v Bocardo SA [2010] UKSC 35
Birmingham City Council v Ali & Ors [2009] UKHL 36
Akzo Nobel UK Ltd v Arista Tubes Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 28
R v Sheppard & Anor [2010] EWCA Crim 65

If a case has a neutral citation and also has been published in a law report, you should add the
neutral citation immediately after the names of the parties and before the law report citation.

Example:

Taylor v Heal [1591] EWHC QB J100, 78 ER 478, Cro. Eliz. 222

Both in International and European Law there are specific ways to refer to case law of the courts
that are active in these fields.

EU
The case law of the European Court of Justice is officially published by the European Union itself
in the European Court Reports. References to cases include:
• Case number
• Official name of the case
• Year of publication in the ECR and reference to the page in the ECR where the case starts

Example:
Case C-330/03 Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, [2006] ECR I-00801
Case C-193/05, Commission of the European Communities v. Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg,
[2006] ECR I-08673

International
Referencing to cases of other international courts differ from court to court. It is best to
investigate how, for that specific court, references should be construed.

Some examples:

International Court of Justice:

Nicaragua Case (Merits) I.C.J. Rep. 1986, p. 14

European Court of Human Rights:

Soering v. UK A 161 (1989)

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Secondary sources
Books

The elements of the bibliographical template for books are:

• Heading with author(s) surname and year of publication (bold)

• First name(s) of the author(s) in full
If not available: their initials (check thoroughly first!)
• Last name of the author(s), followed by a semi-colon
• Full title of the book (in italics), followed by a full stop
• [Used edition, followed by a comma]
• Place of publishing, followed by a colon
If not available: s.l. (= sine loco, without place) (check thoroughly first!)
• Publishing house, followed by a comma
• Year of publishing
If not available: s.d. (= sine dato, without date) (check thoroughly first!)

Examples:

Books with one or two authors:

Rammeloo 2001
Stephan Rammeloo; Corporations in private international law: a European perspective. Oxford
[etc.]: Oxford University Press, 2001

Heringa & Kiiver 2009

Aalt Willem Heringa & Philipp Kiiver; Constitutions compared; an introduction to comparative
constitutional law. 2nd edition, Antwerp [etc.]: Intersentia, 2009

Books with three or more authors:

Gerards et al. 2005

Janneke Gerards et al.; Genetic discrimination and genetic privacy in a comparative perspective.
Antwerp [etc.]: Intersentia, 2005

Books reworked by subsequent authors

Longstanding handbooks and series of handbooks often retain a reference to the original author in
their title, both out of reverence for the author and because of the reputation the work or series
enjoys in academic or professional circles. The work is referenced in the bibliography under the
name of the present author / reviser.

Examples:

Beekhuis 1990
Jacob Houdijn Beekhuis; Zakenrecht, Algemeen deel. Mr. C Assers’s Handleiding tot de
Beoefening van het Nederlands Burgerlijk Recht. 11e editie, Zwolle: W.E.J. Tjeenk Willink, 1980

20
Tucker 1803
St George Tucker; Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. [Follows the 9th edition
(1783) of the original work by William Blackstone.] Philadelphia: Birch and Small, 1803

Malanczuk 1997
Peter Malanczuk; Akehurst’s Modern Introduction to International Law. 7th, revised edition,
London [etc.]: Routledge, 1997

Edited books

Sometimes a book consists of related articles or chapters written by several authors. In that case,
the book is treated as a stand-alone periodical, with the contribution in question treated as an
article. The rules for multiple editors are the same as with ‘normal’books: one or two editors are
both mentioned in full, with three or more editors only the first one is mentioned and et al.is
added.

The elements of the bibliographical template for edited books are:

• Heading with editor(s) surname and year of publication (bold)

• First name(s) of the editor(s) in full
• Last name of the editor(s), followed by a comma and then
• (Ed(s).), followed by a semi-colon
• Full title of the book (in italics), followed by a full stop
• [Used edition, followed by a comma]
• Place of publishing, followed by a colon
• Publishing house, followed by a comma
• Year of publishing

The elements of the bibliographical template for an article or chapter in edited books are:

• Heading with author(s) surname and year of publication (bold)

• First name(s) of the author(s) in full
• Last name of the author(s), followed by a semi-colon
• Full title of the article/chapter, bracketed between inverted commas, followed by a comma
and then
• In, followed by a colon
• First name of the editor(s) in full
• Last name of the editor(s), followed by a comma
• (Ed(s).) followed by a semi-colon
• Full title of the book (in italics), followed by a full stop
• [Used edition, followed by a comma]
• Place of publishing, followed by a colon
• Publishing house, followed by a comma
• Year of publishing

21
Examples:

Edited book

Hartkamp et al. 2004

Arthur Hartkamp et al., (Eds.); Towards a European Civil Code. 3rd edition, Nijmegen: Ars Aequi
Libri, 2004

Contribution in an edited book

Van Erp 1998

Sjef van Erp, ‘The pre-contractual stage’, in: Arthur Hartkamp et al., (Eds.); Towards a European
Civil Code. 2nd edition, Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri, 1998

Books with corporations, organizations or institutions as author or publisher

The elements of the bibliographical template for books with bodies as author or publisher are:

• Heading with organization name and year of publication (bold)

• Organization name, followed by a semi-colon
• Full title of the book (in italics), followed by a full stop
• [Used edition, followed by a comma]
• Place of publishing, followed by a colon
• Publishing house, followed by a comma
• Year of publishing

Examples:

Author and publisher

International Monetary Fund 2007

International Monetary Fund; World Economic Outlook: Globalization and Inequality.
Washington D.C.: IMF, 2007

Publisher

Giovannini and Mourre 2009

Theresa Giovannini and Alexis Mourre (Eds.); Written evidence and discovery in international
arbitration: new issues and tendencies. Paris: International Chamber of Commerce, 2009

Translated books

The elements of the bibliographical template for translated books are:

• Heading with author(s) surname and year of publication (bold)

• First name of the author(s) in full
• Last name of the author(s), followed by a semi-colon

22
• Full title of the book (in italics), followed by a full stop
• [Used edition, followed by a comma]
• Place of publishing, followed by a colon
• Publishing house, followed by a comma
• Year of publishing
• Translator
• Full bibliographic data on original title

Lesaffer 2009
Randall Lesaffer; European legal history: a cultural and political perspective. Cambridge [etc.]:
Cambridge University Press, 2009. Revised by the author and translated by Jan Arriëns from:
Randall Lesaffer; Inleiding tot de Europese Rechtsgeschiedenis. Leuven: Universitaire Pers
Leuven, 2004

Smits - Kornet 2002

Jan Martien Smits and Nicole Kornet; The making of European private law: toward a Ius
Commune Europaeum as a mixed legal system. Antwerp: Intersentia, 2002. Translated by Nicole
Kornet from: Jan Martien Smits; Europees privaatrecht in wording. Antwerpen: Intersentia, 1999

Modern editions of a classical work

A modern edition of a classical work can be a (photomechanical) reprint of an existing edition or

a re-edition by a new editor. The elements of the bibliographical template for modern editions of
classical works are:

• Heading with author(s) surname and year of publication (bold)

• First name of the author(s) in full
• Last name of the author(s), followed by a semi-colon
• Full title of the book (in italics), followed by a full stop
• [Used edition, followed by a comma]
• Place of publishing, followed by a colon
• Publishing house, followed by a comma
• Year of publishing
• Manner of reproduction
• Full bibliographic data on original title

Examples:

Mommsen 1854-1856 / 1984

Theodor Mommsen; Römische Geschichte, 3 volumes. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftlichte
Buchgesellschaft, 1984. Photomechanic reprint of the 1932 edition. Original edition: 1854-1856

Jörs 1882 / 1985

Paul Jörs; Über das Verhältnis der Lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus zur Lex Papia Poppaea.
Bonn: 1882. Photomechanic reprint in:
Paul Jörs; ’Iuliae rogationes’, due studi sulla legislazione matrimoniale augustea, in: Antiqua 36,
Napoli: Jovene, 1985

23
Savigny 1850 / 1820
Friedrich Carl von Savigny; Über die Lex Voconia, in: Vermischte Schriften von Friedrich Carl
von Savigny. Band I, Berlin: Veit, 1850. Reprint of:
Friedrich Carl von Savigny; Über die Lex Voconia, Abhandlung gelesen in der Akademie der
Wissenschaften zu Berlin am 2. November 1820. Berlin: Akademie der Wissenschaften,
1820/1821

Pre-modern works

Pre-modern works written in a language not everyone knows these days, such as Latin or Old
French can often be found in translation. These translations often encompass more than a simple
translation from one language into another, which in effect makes them more like interpretations.
These works have to be presented twice in the bibliography: once in the category primary sources
(see above) under the name of the original author, once in the category secondary sources (see
here) under the name of the interpreting translator.
When a reference is made to the original source, then only the original work is mentioned in
the footnote (primary source). When a comment on the original text by the translator is referenced,
or information on the background of the original text is given by the translator, then the reference
is to the translator (secondary source).
A word of caution: all translation carries an element of interpretation. Relying on translated
primary sources without truly being able to understand the primary source in its original language
is very dangerous. Any mistakes made by a student due to their reliance on a translation is
attributable to that student, and that student alone!

Examples:

Watson 1998
Alan Watson (Ed.); The Digest of Justinian [translation]. Revised edition, Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998

Beinart & Ormonde 1941

Ben-Zion Beinart and M.E.P. Ormonde; Johannes Voet, Commentarius ad Pandectas Book 19,
Title 2, Locatio, conductio [translation]. Translated edition: 1689, Cape Town [etc.]: Juta, 1941

Rackham 1977
Harris Rackham; Aristotle, Politics [translation]. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press,
1977

24
Reports

Reports are presented in the same manner as books, though it is advisable to insert [Report] after
the title, should that title not include this information. If authors of the report are indicated, then
the heading will show their name. If no authors are indicated, then the heading consists of a short
version of the title.

Examples:

Fight against Fraud 2006

Protection of the European Communities' financial interests: fight against fraud: annual report
2003. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2006

Kyriakou 2010
Nikolas Kyriakou; ‘The National Judicial Treatment of the ECHR and EU Laws: Report on
Cyprus’, in: Giuseppe Martinico and Oresto Pollicino (Eds.); The National Judicial Treatment of
the ECHR and the EU Laws: a Comparative Constitutional Perspective. Groningen: Europa Law
Publishing, 2010

Economic Adjustment Programme Greece 2010

The economic adjustment programme for Greece [Report]. Brussels: European Commission,
Directorate-General for Economic and financial Affairs. 2010

Journals

Articles in journals do not need a separate category, they can be taken up in the bibliography with
the books under ‘secondary sources’. There are, however, some differences in the bibliographical
elements.
The elements of the bibliographical template for articles in journals are:

• Heading with author(s) surname and year of publication (bold)

• First name(s) in full of the author(s), or, if not available their initials (check thoroughly first!)
• Last name of the author(s), followed by a semi-colon
• Full title of the article bracketed between inverted commas, followed by a full stop
• Full title of the periodical (in italics), immediately followed by
• Volume number of the periodical (also in italics) (if present), followed by a comma
• Which issue of that year, if available and relevant, in the format used by the journal itself
• Year of publishing followed by a comma
• Begin- and end page of the article

Examples:

Wasmeier 1999
Martin Wasmeier; ‘Aktuelle Fragen im Zusammenhang mit der Anerkennung von
Berufsabschlüssen’. Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht 10 (24), 1999, p. 746-750

Reid 2003
Kenneth G.C. Reid; ‘Vassals No More: Feudalism and Post-Feudalism in Scotland’. European
Review of Private Law 3, 2003 p. 282-300

25
Jarndyl 2009
Seth Jarndyl; ‘The 374-Word Oath’. Annals of Improbable Research 15/2, 2009 p. 14-15

Book reviews

Most academic journals contain a section with reviews by scholars of name, of newly published
books. These reviews are often extremely helpful and can even be authoritative sources in their
own right. These reviews are referenced in a bibliography as an article, with the full
bibliographical data on the reviewed book between brackets following the review title.

Example:

Rubin 2009
Gerry Rubin; ‘Anne Logan: Feminism and criminal justice’(Review of: Anne Logan; Feminism
and criminal justice: A historical perspective. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Feminist
Legal Studies 17/3, 2009

Encyclopaedias and dictionaries

Most encyclopaedias and dictionaries belong to the so-called popular or non-academic sources (as
opposed to academic sources). Students and academics alike have to be very careful when using
these sources in academic writing. They can be used to ascertain simple facts, however they can
only be advanced as an extra, additional or corroborating source, never as sole source, for any
academic argument, theory or opinion. An ever-present example of a definite academic no-no as
sole or even secondary source is Wikipedia.
The reason for this caution is that neither encyclopaedias nor dictionaries give much reference
to their sources, making it impossible for us to check their assertions. Wikipedia does (sometimes)
give reference, but here the problem is that the contents of the lemmata can be changed too easily,
and often is, by casual pranksters called ‘Wikibashers’.
Experienced professionals, who can (and do!) check the veracity of assertions even when
references are lacking, may in their teaching material occasionally refer to (internet)
encyclopaedias or dictionaries, even Wikipedia, for further information on a topic. As students,
quite logically, do not have as yet the required experience, they never may do so. This is truly a
case of quod licet Iovi …

One exception exists to this rule: legal or otherwise academic encyclopaedias and legal
dictionaries of (long-standing) repute can be used and quoted as an academic source, but then
only under the name of the author of that specific lemma or the editor of the entire encyclopaedia.

Examples:

Smits 2006
Jan Smits (Ed.); Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law. Cheltenham [etc.]: Edward Elgar
Publishing, 2006

Münzer 1927
Friedrich Münzer, ‘P. Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus’, in: Real Encyclopädie der classischen
Alterthumswissenschaft, 13. Band, Stuttgart: Verlag der J.B. Metzler'schen Buchchandlung, 1927

26
Lerat & Sourioux 1994
Pierre Lerat and Jean-Louis Sourioux; Dictionnaire juridique. Terminologie du contrat avec des
équivalents en anglais et en allemand. Paris : Conseil international de la langue française, 1994

Digital or e-sources

More and more scholars and scientists, including legal scholars, find the larger part of their
scientific information via the internet. In some areas, where developments go particularly fast, it
is nowadays even the most important source. As the internet can be rather ephemeral, with
information being here today, gone tomorrow, using internet sources comes with a specific set of
do’s and don’ts.
Reference to a source on internet always has to include URL-information that brings the
audience as close to the source itself as is possible. Students must check that the given
information does indeed lead to the source used. If that is not possible, give the URL to the main
page of the site and present the search strategy from that point to the page used. A practical tip:
especially with very long URL’s it is advisable to use a smaller letter cast for the URL.
Students must also check, as shortly before paper submission as possible, whether all the
internet sources are still available. The execution of this check must be indicated with the
individual sources by “Last visited on … .”. In case all sources have been checked at the
same time and been found to be still present and accessible, this indication can occur in the
umbrella heading for the internet sources (“All sites were last visited on … ”).
If a site has gone missing or has been updated so that the data used in the paper are gone, then
the disappeared source has to be left out. If it concerns a compact presentation of data which is
subject to frequent change, then it could have been downloaded and kept in reserve for just such a
case. The download can then be added to the paper in an appendix if and when the site is changed
or gone.

e-article/book based on a paper edition

With articles in journals and books that know a paper edition, one can encounter the Google
Books Problem. There are many sites and databases, of which Google Books is one of the best
known, which offer a digital version of books and journals.
As long as the digital version is textually identical to the paper version there is no problem.
Then the bibliographical data are the same as those of the paper product and the entry can be
inserted in the book section. Sometimes the layout of the paper version and the digital version
differs. Therefore the author must add information that he has consulted this source in its digital
form to the bibliographical data, together with the URL where the source can be found.

Example:

Wolff 1758
Christian Wolff; Principes du droit de la nature et des gens. Amsterdam : M.M.Rey,
1758. Retrieved from Google Books, last visited on 14 August 2010
http://books.google.com/books?id=9HQc8uIKpCsC&pg=PA165&dq=subject:%22Law+/+General%22&hl=en&ei=vPt
jTK_yK8z-OfXUsfIH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBjhs#v=onepage&q&f=false;

Most often, however, paper sources are not digitalized in their entirety, due to copyright claims.
Sites such as Google Books or JStor offer mostly only certain sections of books or articles, or
offer only abstracts of books or articles with a possibility to download more, but only for payment.

27
This means that the student cannot see the entire source. As already indicated in the introduction
to the Bibliography section, this is not allowed in sound academic work.
What a student must do in such a case is go and find the paper source. Then the paper source
can be entered into the bibliography, with no need for the information to be repeated in the
Electronic Sources section.
However: what to do if, even after a diligent search, the paper version of the truncated digital
source cannot be found? Here, the situation differs with the level of the student. First-years and
second-years have to check the UB catalogue and the Regional Catalogue Limburg for
availability of the source; Third-years have to check the availability of basic works in the PiCarta
catalogue (= the Netherlands academic libraries), the availability of other sources in the UB
catalogue and the Regional catalogue Limburg. Master students have to check the PiCarta
catalogue for availability of any source, for basic works they can occasionally even be expected
to undertake an excursion to Liège, Aachen or Köln, if their supervisor so wishes.
If the source is not available in the required libraries, then the digital version of the book or
article can be used as a source. All bibliographical data of the paper source plus the data on the
internet finding place must be given in the section Electronic Sources of the bibliography, plus
the pages of the work which were available for consultation. (Note: not just the consulted pages!)
Once again it will be assumed that all available material has indeed been consulted.

Example:

Zimmermann 2002
Reinhard Zimmermann; Comparative Foundations of a European Law of Set-off and Prescription.
Cambridge [etc.]: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Retrieved from http://books.google.nl;
available pages: 1-10, 13-17. Last visited 14 August, 2010

Electronic article/book without a paper edition (e-books and e-journals)

Electronic articles or books without a paper edition can be inserted once again in the book section.
The website where the source has been retrieved has to be referenced and the “last visited”date to
be acknowledged. Once again, it will be assumed that the entire document was consulted.

Example:

Kornet 2010
Nicole Kornet; ‘Contracting in China: Comparative Observations on Freedom of Contract,
Contract Formation, Battle of Forms and Standard Form Contracts’. Electronic Journal of
Comparative Law 14.1, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.ejcl.org; last visited on 14 August,
2010

Other internet documents

The elements of the bibliographic template for an academic internet source that is neither a book
nor an article are:

• Heading with author(s) surname and year of publication (bold)

• First name of the author(s) in full
• Last name of the author(s), followed by a semi-colon

28
• Full title of the site (in italics), followed by a full stop
• Name internet site (if available), followed by a comma
• Year of publication, followed by a full stop
• URL of webpage, followed by a comma
• Last visited on … ..

The internet contains many documents; their academic quality is not always (read: almost never)
immediately obvious. Only those documents that are indeed of academic quality can be inserted
under the heading of Digital or e-sources, all others must be relegated to the category of Non-
academic sources (see below). The reason for this is that the academic sources of a student paper
serve as authority for the arguments brought in the paper.
One of the requirements is that the authors are unbiased. This means that they may not be
partisan to any social or religious cause, any institution or country. This does not infer that these
authors are bigoted, simply that they do not have a neutral outlook on the topic they are writing
about. Note: this holds true as well for all governmental sites of any country!
Rating rules to ascertain the academic quality and, therefore, the academic authority of internet
contributions:

• The author(s) are known AND

• The author(s) are of good academic or professional repute (check!)
• The authors are unbiased
• The subject of the contribution is approached academically (serious research, system of
reference notes and bibliography)
• The contribution is dated (so the readers can check whether it is current or out of date)

In all other cases, that is where the author(s) are unknown, where their academic or professional
stature cannot be ascertained, where research is not academically approached or where there is no
date, these internet sources have to be treated as non-academic sources.

Example:

Ramaekers 2009
Eveline Ramaekers; The Building Blocks of Property Law: a Model Inspired by the Composition
of Rubik’s Cube; [Working Paper]. The Social Science Research Network, 2009. Retrieved via
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1434926, last visited on 16 August 2010

29
Non-academic sources

Non-academic sources can never be given as sole source and authority for facts, data, theories,
explanations or academic opinions. They can only serve as auxiliary sources to offer confirmation
of academic sources. Their main role is to show the impact on and reaction to the topic of the
paper of society in its broadest sense.

Magazines and newspapers

As with journals. The date of publication has to be given exactly in the heading and in the entry..

Examples:

Marcus 26-08-2010
Jon Marcus; ‘A straight case of discrimination? Lawsuits come in all shades for US institutions’,
in: The Times Higher Education Supplement, 26-08-2010. Retrieved via
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=413172&c=1, last
visited on 1 September 2010

The Economist 396/8697

‘Reform in China. Change you can believe in?’, in: The Economist vol. 396 nr. 8697, 28-08-2010
p.42

Encyclopaedias and dictionaries

As with legal or academic encyclopaedias or dictionaries (see above).

Internet documents

• Non-academic internet documents sometimes have no known author. In that case, the
bibliographical entry starts with the title. The heading consists then either of the title, or an
abbreviated version of the title, and the year of publication on the internet.
• Non-academic internet documents sometimes have no title. In that case the opening words of
(part of) the first sentence are used as title.
• Non-academic internet documents often are not published on a website with a name. In that
case the indication s.l. (sine loco, without place) must be used in analogy with a book where
the place of residence of the publisher is unknown.
• Non-academic internet documents often do not indicate when they were published. In that
case the indication s.d. (sine dato, without date) must be used.

Examples:

CIA Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/, last visited on 9 september 2010

Site Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel

http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/Webs/BK/DE/Homepage/home.html

Wikileaks
http://wikileaks.org/

30