As noted in the Guidelines for Authors, the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies uses the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA). Relevantly for our Journal, OSCOLA itself does not cover international law materials, which are instead addressed in a separate Citing International Law Section. Unfortunately, the latter remains somewhat inconsistent and confusing. Hence, feel free refer to the following streamlined Cheat Sheet. For all matters not covered here, please consult the full version of OSCOLA and its Citing International Law Section.
Treaties
title | (signed, adopted or opened for signature date, entered into force date) | volume | series | first page
Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court (adopted 9 September 2002, entered into force 22 July 2004) 2271 UNTS 3
Cite an official international treaty series (UNTS, LNTS) or, if the treaty does not appear in one, an authoritative unofficial publication (eg CTS, ILM, or AJIL).
The following list contains OSCOLA-compliant citations of a number of treaties frequently cited in JIHLS.
Other International Documents
UN Resolutions
title (if applicable), | body | Res | number | (date)
UNSC Res 1373 (28 September 2001)
UNGA Res 3314 (XXIX) (14 December 1974)
Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, UNGA Res 2625 (XXV) (24 October 1970)
Other Documents with a UN Document Number
document title | (date) | UN Doc document number
Model Status-of-Forces Agreement for Peacekeeping Operations (9 October 1990) UN Doc A/45/594
Statutes and Statutory Instruments
Statutes and statutory instruments
Please follow the relevant national citation style but omit full stops in abbreviations as far as possible.
Human Rights Act 1998, s 15(1)(b)
Penalties for Disorderly Behaviour (Amendment of Minimum Age) Order 2004, SI 2004/3166
Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, 18 USC §§ 3261-3267 (West 2012)
John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, Pub L No 109-364, 120 Stat 2083 (2006)
Völkerstrafgesetzbuch vom 26. Juni 2002 (BGBl I S 2254)
International Cases
International Court of Justice
title (parties) (if required, stage or type of proceedings) | [year] | ICJ Rep | first page
Nuclear Tests (Australia v France) [1974] ICJ Rep 253
Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v US) (Provisional Measures) [1984] ICJ Rep 169
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (Advisory Opinion) [1996] ICJ Rep 226
Omit the words ‘Case’, ‘Cases’, ‘Case Concerning’ etc. from the title. If not referring to a judgment on the merits, indicate the stage of proceedings and/or the type of decision.
Permanent Court of International Justice
title (parties) (if required, stage or type of proceedings) | (year) | PCIJ Rep | Series letter | No number
Factory at Chorzów (Germany v Poland) (Jurisdiction) (1927) PCIJ Rep Series A No 9
SS Lotus (France v Turkey) (1927) PCIJ Rep Series A No 10
Omit the words ‘Case’, ‘Cases’, ‘Case Concerning’ etc from the title. If not referring to a judgment on the merits, indicate the stage of proceedings and/or the type of decision.
International(ised) Criminal Tribunals
title | (type of decision) | case/document no | (date)
Prosecutor v Tadić (Decision on the Defence Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction) IT-94-1 (2 October 1995)
Prosecutor v Tadić (Judgement in Sentencing Appeals) IT-94-1-A (26 January 2000)
Prosecutor v Bemba (Decision on the Confirmation of Charges) ICC-01/05-01/08 (15 June 2009)
Prosecutor v Lubanga Dyilo (Judgment) ICC-01/04-01/06 (14 March 2012)
Prosecutor v Taylor (Decision on Immunity from Jurisdiction) SCSL-03-01-I-059 (31 May 2004)
Prosecutor v Kaing (Judgment) 001/18-07-2007-ECCC/SC (3 February 2012)
Omit first names of defendants.
Human Rights Courts and Treaty Bodies
title | (type of decision) | (application/case no, | court/chamber, | date)
Banković et al v Belgium et al (Decision on Admissibility) (App no 52207/99, ECtHR Grand Chamber, 12 December 2001)
Alejandre et al v Cuba (Case no 11.589, IACmHR, 29 September 1999)
López Burgos v Uruguay (Comm no 52/1979, HRC, 29 July 1981)
Omit the first names of applicants.
Domestic Cases
Please follow the relevant national citation style but omit full stops in abbreviations as far as possible.
United Kingdom
For cases, give the party names, followed by the neutral citation or, if one is not available, a reference the official Law Reports (eg AC, Ch, QB) or another well-regarded series of reports (eg All ER or WLR). If the court is not evident from the citation, please add it at the end in brackets.
R (Al-Jedda) v Secretary of State for Defence [2006] EWCA Civ 327
Page v Smith [1996] AC 155 (House of Lords)
When pinpointing, specify paragraph numbers – or, if the judgment has no paragraph numbers, page numbers – at the end of the citation.
In re Amand [1942] 1 All ER 480 (Court of Appeal) 482
Al-Skeini and others v Secretary of State for Defence [2007] UKHL 26, [9] (Lord Bingham)
United States
Boumediene v Bush, 553 US 723 (2008)
Alvarez-Machain v US, 331 F3d 604 (9th Cir 2003)
Secondary Sources
Books
author, | title | (additional information, | edition, | publisher | year)
Frits Kalshoven and Liesbeth Zegveld, Constraints on the Waging of War: An Introduction to International Humanitarian Law (4th edn, CUP 2011) 125–126
Cornelius van Bynkershoek, A Treatise on the Law of War (first published 1737, Peter Stephen du Ponceau tr, Farrand & Nicholas, 1810)
Oxford University Press (OUP) and Cambridge University Press (CUP) may be abbreviated.
Book Chapters
author, | ‘title’ | in editor (ed), | book title | (additional information, | publisher | year) | first page
Stefan Oeter, ‘Methods and Means of Combat’ in Dieter Fleck (ed), The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law (2nd edn, OUP 2008) 119
A P V Rogers, ‘The Principle of Proportionality’ in Howard M Hensel (ed), The Legitimate Use of Military Force: The Just War Tradition and the Customary Law of Armed Conflict (Ashgate 2008) 189
Journal and Yearbook Articles
author, | ‘title’ | (year) | volume | (issue if required) | journal name or abbreviation | first page
William J Fenrick, ‘The Rule of Proportionality and Protocol I in Conventional Warfare’ (1982) 98 MLR 91
Michael N Schmitt, ‘Wired Warfare: Computer Network Attack and Jus in Bello’ (2002) 84(846) IRRC 365
Nobuo Hayashi, ‘Requirements of Military Necessity in International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law’ (2010) 28 Boston University International Law Journal 39
Hitoshi Nasu and Thomas Faunce, ‘The Proposed Ban on Certain Nanomaterials for Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Europe and Its Global Security Implications: A Search for an Alternative Regulatory Approach’ (2011) 2(3) European Journal of Law and Technology <http://ejlt.org//article/view/79>
Names of journals may either be be written out in full or abbreviated as per OSCOLA. Whichever option is chosen, it should be used throughout a manuscript.
Working papers
author, | ‘title’ | (year) | series identification
Geoffrey S Corn, ‘Multi‐National Operations, Unity of Effort, and the Law of Armed Conflict’ (2009) HPCR Working Paper <http://ihl.ihlresearch.org/_data/global/images/HPCR-WPS-Corn%20Final.pdf>
Websites and Blog Posts
author, | ‘title’ | (blog title, | date) | <hyperlink>
Mike Navarre, ‘Defense Legal Policy Board Subcommittee to Review Military Justice in Combat Zones’ (NIMJblog – CAAFlog, 1 August 2012) <http://www.caaflog.com/2012/08/01/defense-legal-policy-board-subcommittee-to-review-military-justice-in-combat-zones>
Newspaper Articles
author, | ‘title’ | newspaper | (city of publication, | date) | page or <hyperlink>
Jane Croft, ‘Supreme Court Warns on Quality’ Financial Times (London, 1 July 2010) 3
Recurring Citations
Cases
abbreviated case name | (n footnote_with_full_citation) pinpoint
Nuclear Tests (n 5)
Al-Skeini (House of Lords) (n 10) [26]
Tadić (Jurisdictional Appeal) (n 17)
If there are similarly titled cases, give an indication of which one is referred to in brackets after the abbreviated title.
Secondary Sources
author | (n footnote_with_full_citation) pinpoint
For secondary sources, provide the name(s) of the author(s) and the number of the footnote where a full citation can be found. If several works by the same author(s) are cited, provide a short title of the work:
Kalshoven and Zegveld (n 1) 25
Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars (n 5) 125
Schmitt, ‘Wired Warfare’ (n 28) 370