Parliamentary Material

The text of electronic and print versions will be identical, therefore there is no need to give details of the origin of the source you have used.

A bill is renumbered every time it is reprinted during its passage through Parliament. Therefore, it is important to include details of the exact version you are referring to.

Running numbers for House of Commons (HC) bills are inserted within square brackets; those for the House of Lords (HL) are not.

Footnote form

Title of Bill House in which it originated (i.e. HC or HL)(Parliamentary session) Running number assigned to the Bill, section pinpoint if required.

Footnote examples

¹ Climate Change Effects HC Bill (2006-07) [54].

² Further Education and Training HL Bill (2006-07) 6 s 4(a).

³ Housing and Regeneration HC Bill (2007-08) [8] s 144.

Abbreviations of sections of bills are only to be used in footnotes. When referring to a section of a bill in the text, pinpoint references should be written in full e.g.

The application of section 4 of the Further Education and Training HL Bill (2006-07) 6, in particular sub-section 4(a), has shown that ...

Section 144 of the Housing and Regeneration HC Bill (2007-08) [8] states that ...

Bibliography

Information on arranging the bibliography.

Notes

• Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 25.

The text of electronic and print versions will be identical, therefore there is no need to give details of the origin of the source used.

Footnote form

Author (i.e. issuing department/s or body), Title (Command paper number, Publication year) page, paragraph or chapter number if required.

Examples

¹ Criminal Law Revision Committee, Fifteenth Report: Sexual Offences (Cmnd 9213, 1984) para 36.

² Department for International Development, Eliminating World Poverty: Building our Common Future (White Paper, Cm 7656, 2009) ch 5.

³ Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office, Modernising government (Cm 4310, 1999) 4-5.

Bibliography

Information about arranging the bibliography. 

Notes

• Command Papers are Parliamentary Papers presented to the United Kingdom Parliament nominally by command of the Sovereign, but in practice by a Government Minister. The title derives from the formula originally carried on papers 'Presented to Parliament by Command of Her (or His) Majesty'. In recent years the approach has been to use the phrase: 'Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for ....... (or other title as appropriate) by Command of Her (or His) Majesty'. Sometimes more than one Minister will present the Paper in which case all Ministers are listed, appearing in order of Cabinet precedence. In certain circumstances, e.g. reports produced by Royal Commissions, the original formula still applies. As well as reports they include White Papers and Green papers, originally so called because of the colour of their covers.

• Give the Department presenting the report to Parliament as the author unless the committee itself is named as an author. It is not usually necessary to name the Chair, although if the report is commonly referred to in this way e.g. the Robens report, you could use this in the text of your work for example, the Robens report and footnote it at first reference as Committee on Safety and Health at Work, 1970-2 Report  (Cmnd 5034 , 1972) 7 referred to as the Robens report.

• The abbreviation used for the series is crucial in locating the right command paper, therefore be quite clear about which series you are citing in your reference.

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 40-41.

The text of electronic and print versions will be identical, therefore there is no need to give details of the origin of the source used.

Explanatory Notes, although issued by the Office of Public Sector Information in conjunction with Acts of Parliament, categorically state:
They do not form part of the Act and have not been endorsed by Parliament.

Footnote form

Explanatory Notes to the Title of Act Year, paragraph/s number/s (i.e. para/s)if required.

Footnote examples

¹ Explanatory Notes to the Banking Act 2009, paras 14, 16.

² Explanatory Notes to the Children and Adoption Act 2006, paras 3-4.

³ Explanatory Notes to the Terrorism Act 2000, para 6.

Bibliography

Information on arranging the bibliography.

Notes

• For referencing purposes, they should be treated as secondary sources rather than as legislation. They could however be treated as an indication of the intention behind the legislation and the courts have been prepared to consider Explanatory Notes for a number of purposes when construing and applying legislation.
• Any use of the title of an Act should remain capitalised as in the original.
• You may pinpoint your references to explanatory notes by page number, or by internal numbering of the document, but it is best to stick consistently with one or the other in order not to confuse your reader.

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 25.

The text of electronic and print versions will be identical, therefore there is no need to give details of the origin of the source used.

The reference for electronic format should mimic that for the print copy where available. For debates include the (paper) volume number even if that volume is only available electronically on the Parliament website. 

There are three series of Hansard, one reporting debates in the House of Commons, one in the House of Lords and one in the Public Bill committees of the House of Commons, which replaced standing committees in 2007.

Footnote form

Debates in the House of Commons or House of Lords

House abbreviation followed by Deb (i.e. HL Deb or HC Deb) day Month year, vol (for volume), col/s (for column/s).

Debates in the Public Bill committees of the House of Commons

Title of Bill followed by Deb day Month year, col/s (for column/s).

Parliamentary reports

Committee name, Title of report (HL or HC session, paper number volume number (in roman numerals) page or paragraph number if required.

Footnote examples

 Debates in the House of Commons or House of Lords

¹ HC Deb 24 June 1998, vol 314, cols 1083-86.

² HL Deb 25 November 1997, vol 583, col 835.

³ HC Deb 16 July 1991, vol 195, col 103.

⁴ HC Deb 21 May 2021, vol 696.

Debates in the Public Bill committees in the house of Commons

⁵ Health Bill Deb 30 January 2007, cols 12-15.

⁶ Armed Forces Bill Deb 8 February 2021, vol 689, col 49.

This example shows how to cite debates in the old standing committees:

⁷ SC Deb (A) 13 May 1998, col 345.

Parliamentary reports

⁸ Justice Committee, Cutting Crime: The Case for Justice Reinvestment  (HC 2009-10, 94-I) 49-51.

⁹ Constitution Committee, Clause 12 of the Bribery Bill: Further Report  (HL 2009-10) para 49.

¹⁰ Defense Committee, Mental Health and the Armed Forces, Part Two: The Provision of Care  (HC 2017-19, 1481) para 152.

For reports of joint committees, cite both the House of Lords and House of Commons paper numbers, in that order:

¹¹ Joint Committee on the Draft Bribery Bill, First Report: Minutes of Evidence (2008-09, HL115-II, HC 430-II) 15.

Written Answers

Written answers after 2001:  Add WA before the column number for House of Lords Hansard, and W after the column number for House of Commons Hansard. 

Written answers before 2001:  Put WA after the date, e.g.

Do not include spaces before/after the column numbers, but include a space after the date if before 2001.

¹² HL 25 November 1997, vol 583, col WA835.

¹³ HC 16 July 1991, vol 195, col 103W.

¹⁴ HC 7 February 1940 WA, vol 357, cols 234-45.

Bibliography

Information on arrangement of the bibliography.

Notes

Find the volume number from the appropriate online archive

• Historic Hansard (1803-2005)
• Archived Commons Debates 1988-
• Archived Lords Debates 1995- by tracking dates
• Revision of the Hansard website now shows volume number at the top of the page with the column number (if one) at the far right of the page. 

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 39-40.