EU and international legal sources (OSCOLA5)

• The European Convention on Human Rights is not included in the Bibliography.
• There are many different ways to refer to this convention and practice seems to vary across publications.
• It is an international treaty but that format is not always used. 
• You may see it referred to as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or as the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
• It has been amended many times by different protocols. 
   

In your sentence, the first time you mention it, you must include: European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In subsequent sentences you should use ECHR.

Always specify which article you are using - e.g. ECHR, art 6.

If you wish to provide a footnote with fuller information, or you have not mentioned the name of the convention in your sentence you should put: 
 

¹ Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (opened for signature 4 November 1950, entered into force 3 September 1953) ETS 5 (European Convention on Human Rights, as amended) ('ECHR').
 

Then refer to it as ECHR going forward. 

• EU legislation is not included in the Bibliography.
• Official Journal of the European Union is abbreviated to OJ and has 3 series; legislative series (L), EU information and notices (C), and invitations to tender for public contracts (S).
• Put a space between OJ and the series letter, but no space between the series letter and the issue/page number

The format for these is: Legislation title [Year] OJ series issue/first page number.

Footnote

ⁿ Legislation title [Year] OJ series issue/first page number.

¹ Protocol to the Agreement on the Member States that do not fully apply the Schengen acquis – Joint Declarations [2007] OJ L129/35.

• These sources are not included in the Bibliography.
• The title of the legislation should appear as given on the first page of the document.
• For legal acts after 1 January 2015 the document’s number consists of the domain (given in round brackets) followed by the year of publication and the document’s sequential number.
• For legal acts after 1 October 2023 instead of the issue/first page the publication date should be given.
• In the first use, provide the full title of the legislation. Any subsequent uses can be shortened (Regulation and Directive abbreviated to Reg or Dir) with the document type and number.

The format for these is: Legislation name, Type of legislation and number Title [Year] OJ L issue/first page number.

Footnote

ⁿ Legislation name, Type of legislation and number Title [Year] OJ L issue/first page number.

¹ Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters [2001] OJ L174/1.

² Council Reg 1206/2001, art 17(1). This is the shortened form of the footnote above, for second or subsequent uses.

³ Council Directive 2002/60/EC of 27 June 2002 laying down specific provisions for the control of African swine fever and amending Directive 92/119/EEC as regards Teschen disease and African swine fever [2002] OJ L192/27.

⁴ Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 of 13 March 2015 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information [2015] OJ L72/53.

⁵ Regulation (EU) 2024/1083 of the European Parliament and Council of 11 April 2024 establishing a common framework for media services in the internal market and amending Directive 2010/13/EU (European Media Freedom Act) [2024] OJ L 17.4.2024.

⁶ Directive (EU) 2024/2881 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (recast) [2024] OJ L 20.11.2024.

⁷ Commission Decision (EU) 2026/452 of 27 February 2026 setting up the cooperation network on asset recovery and confiscation (notified under document C(2026) 1239) [2026] OJ L 2.3.2026.

⁸ Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA and amending Council Decision 2005/671/JHA [2017] OJ L 88/6.

• These sources are not included in the Bibliography.
• European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) numbers are found on the EUR-Lex landing pages for the case, just above the language and formatting options for reading the document.

The format for these is: Case number Case name European Case Law Identifier.

Footnote

n Case number Case name European Case Law Identifier.

¹ Case C-403/03 Schempp v Finanzamt EU:C:2005:446 [19].

² Case T-344/99 Arne Mathisen AS v Council EU:T:2002:174.

• European Court of Human Rights decisions are not included in the Bibliography.
• Abbreviate European Court of Human Rights to ECtHR.
• Include information about the stage of the proceedings.
• If the case was heard by Grand Chamber of the Court, add [GC] after the name, phase and decision or document type.
• If the case was heard by the three-judge Committee, include [Committee].

The format for these is: Case name (Phase) (Type of decision or document) [Chamber/ committee] Court Application number (Day Month Year).

Footnote

ⁿ Case name (Phase) (Type of decision or document) [Chamber/ committee] Court Application number (Day Month Year).

¹ Christine Goodwin v the United Kingdom (Merits) (Judgment) [GC] ECtHR App No 28957/95 (11 July 2002) [21].

² Salgueiro Da Silva Mouta v Portugal, (Merits) (Judgment) [GC] ECtHR App No 33290/96 (21 December 1999) [12].

³ EB v France (Merits) (Judgement) [GC] ECtHR App No 43546/02 (22 January 2008) [33]. 

⁴ Godelli v Italy (Merits) (Judgement) [Second Section] ECtHR App. No 33783/09  (18 March 2013) [14].  

Competition law and mergers decisions by the European Commission

• These sources are not included in the Bibliography.
• Treat Competition law and mergers decisions by the European Commission as legal cases.

The format for Competition law and mergers decisions by the European Commission is: Case name (Case number) Commission Decision number [Year] OJ L issue/first page number.

Footnote

ⁿ Case name (Case number) Commission Decision number [Year] OJ L issue/first page number.

¹ Alcatel/Telettra (Case IV/M.042) Commission Decision 91/251/EEC [1991] OJ L122/48.

European Commission documents

• These sources are not included in the Bibliography.
• European Commission documents can be proposals, action plans etc. 
• Describe the document type in round brackets after the title if necessary.

The format for other European Commission documents is: Name of producing body, 'Document Title' COM number pinpoint if required.

Footnote

ⁿ Name of producing body, 'Document Title' COM number pinpoint if required.

² European Commission, ‘Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol on the Implementation of the Alpine Convention in the Field of Transport (Transport Protocol)’ COM (2008) 895 final, ch I, art 3.

³ European Commission, ‘Action Plan on consumer access to justice and the settlement of disputes in the internal market’ (Communication) COM (96) 13 final.

• These sources are not included in the Bibliography.

Treaty titles

• Give the title as it is shown on the first page of the treaty, with all main words capitalised.
• For long treaty titles, use the full title in the first instance, and put a shortened form in round brackets before a pinpoint for later use.
• Omit the party names if there are more than three parties to the treaty, or if the party names are part of the treaty title.

Treaty dates

• For multilateral treaties give the date the treaty opened for signatures.
• For two or three party treaties give the adoption date.
• All treaties need the date of entry into force (or use 'not yet entered into force' to indicate that).

Pinpoints

• Pinpoint to article numbers should be preceded by a comma unless following a closing bracket.

The format for treaties is: Treaty Title (Parties’ names, if bilateral or trilateral) (adopted Day Month Year, entered into force Day Month Year) Treaty series identifying information.

Footnote

ⁿ Treaty Title (Parties’ names, if bilateral or trilateral) (adopted Day Month Year, entered into force Day Month Year) Treaty series identifying information.

¹ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976) 999 UNTS 171 (‘ICCPR’).

² Bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Republic of Colombia (signed 17 March 2010, entered into force 10 October 2014) [2014] UKTS 24 (‘UK–Colombia BIT’).

³ United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property (adopted 2 December 2004, opened for signature 17 January 2005, not yet in force) 44 ILM 803.

⁴ Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (adopted 28 July 1951, entered into force 22 April 1954) 189 UNTS 137 (‘Refugee Convention’).

⁵ Slavery Convention (adopted 25 September 1926, entered into force 9 March 1927) 60 LNTS 253, art 5.

• These sources are not included in the Bibliography.
• Abbreviate the names of well known United Nations bodies such as United Nations (UN),  United Nations General Assembly (UNGA),  UN Security Council (UNSC).
• Provide full titles of lesser well known UN bodies.
• Abbreviate common words such as Resolution (Res), Document (Doc), and Number (No). 
• Items with ISBNs should be treated as a book.

United Nations resolutions

• Resolutions should use the date of the resolution, not the document date (which might be different).

The format for a UN resolution is: Body Resolution number (Day Month Year) Unique identifying information.

Footnote

ⁿ Body Resolution number (Day Month Year) Unique identifying information.

¹ UNSC Res 1373 (28 September 2001) UN Doc S/RES/1373.

United Nations documents

The format for a UN document is: Body, ‘Title’ (Day Month Year) Unique identifying information.

Footnote

ⁿ Body, ‘Title’ (Day Month Year) Unique identifying information.

² ILC, ‘Third Report on General Principles of Law by Marcelo Vázquez-Bermúdez, Special Rapporteur’ (18 April 2022) UN Doc A/CN.4/753.

• Cases from the International Criminal Court are not included in the Bibliography.
• If there is more than one defendant, use the first named defendant and et al.
• Include the type of decision/judgement in round brackets before the case number/document number.

The format for these is: Case name (Type of decision) Case/document number (Day Month Year).

Footnote

ⁿ Case name (Type of decision) Case/document number (Day Month Year).

¹ Prosecutor v Tadić (Decision on the Defence Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction) IT-94-1 (2 October 1995).

² Co-Prosecutors v Nuon Chea et al (Judgment) 002/19-09-2007/ECCC/TC (16 November 2018) [115].