Legislation (OSCOLA5)

• Primary legislation is not included in the Bibliography.
• Statutes are divided into sections, and may be supplemented by schedules. Abbreviations for these sections can be found below.

In-text

Section 5(1)(a) of the Race Relations Act 1976 provides …

As discussed above, s 11(1A) of the Limitation Act 1980 …

Footnote

Do not use 'The' at the start of the title.

If multiple jurisdictions are under discussion, include the abbreviation of the jurisdictions in round brackets at the end of the footnote, before the pinpoint.

ⁿ Short Title of Act Year, section or part of Act.

² Water Resources Act 1991, s 3(b).

³ Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), 5D(1)(a). In this example, NSW denotes New South Wales, Australia

⁴ Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, s 6.

⁵ Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, s 40(1A).

Abbreviations for parts of statutes

part / parts: pt  /pts

section / sections: s / ss

subsection / subsections: sub-s / sub-ss

paragraph / paragraphs: para / paras

subparagraph / subparagraphs: subpara / subparas

schedule / schedules: sch / schs

clause / clauses: cl/ cls

Legislation (Acts and Bills) from Northern Ireland 

See OSCOLA s 2.4.8

Legislation (Acts and Bills) from Scotland 

See OSCOLA s 2.4.7

Legislation (Acts, Measures, and Bills) from Wales 

See OSCOLA s 2.4.6

• Explanatory Notes are not included in the Bibliography.
• Use 'Explanatory Notes to the' prior to the name of act and year.
• Pinpoint to particular paragraphs using para and then the number.

Footnote

ⁿ Explanatory Notes to Title Year, pinpoint.

¹ Explanatory Notes to the Charities Act 2006, para 15.

• Bills are not included in the Bibliography. 
• Use House of Commons (HC) or House of Lords (HL) followed by the session years and Bill number.
• Note that HC Bill numbers are given in round brackets. HL Bill numbers have no brackets. 
• If you are using part of a Bill, use the guidance and section abbreviations provided for Legislation. 

Footnote

ⁿ Title  HC Bill (session) [number].

OR

ⁿ Title HL Bill (session) number.

¹¹ Consolidated Fund HC Bill (2008–2009) [5].

¹² Academies HL Bill (2010–11) 1, cl 8(2).

• When using EU legislation which has been assimilated into UK law, add the word 'Assimilated' before the title of the legislation, and replace the OJ reference with one to the amending UK statutory instrument. 

Footnote for original EU regulation

²⁵ Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations [2008] OJ L177/6 (‘Rome I Regulation (EU)’).

Same source but assimilated into UK law:

Footnote for Assimilated EU regulation

²⁵ Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations, as amended by SI 2019/834, reg 10 (‘Rome I Regulation (Assimilated)’).

• Statutory instruments are not included in the Bibliography.
• Statutory instruments are numbered consecutively throughout the year. The year combines with the serial number to give an SI number.
• Statutory instruments are divided into sections. Abbreviations for these sections can be found below.

In-text

The Penalties for Disorderly Behaviour (Amendment of Minimum Age) Order 2004 provides…

As discussed above, reg 7(2) of the Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009…

Footnote

ⁿ Title Year, SI number, pinpoint if required.

²¹ Penalties for Disorderly Behaviour (Amendment of Minimum Age) Order 2004, SI 2004/3166.

²² Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2163, reg 7(2). In this example, reg 7(2) is the pinpoint.

²³ Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, SI 2017/1012, reg 5.

²⁴ Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation etc) (Revocation) (England) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/161, reg 2.

²⁵ Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (Consequential Amendments and Savings) Rules 2017, SI 2017/369, r 3.

Abbreviations for parts of statutory instruments

article / articles: art / arts

regulation / regulations: reg / regs

rule / rules: r / rr

Northern Ireland Statutory Rules

See OSCOLA s 2.5.6

Statutory Instruments of the Scottish Parliament

See OSCOLA s 2.5.5

Statutory Instruments of the Welsh Parliament

See OSCOLA 2.5.4

• Use the short form of the Act and the year.
• All main words of the Act title start with a capital letter.
• Do not start an Act title with the word ‘The’ unless the Act is part of a sentence in your text.
• Do not use any italics.

• Parts of acts should be abbreviated in footnotes and in your text unless the part of the statute starts a sentence. 
• If a part of an act does start a sentence, use the full part name, for example: Section 5(1)(a) of the Race Relations Act 1976 provides…

• Titles of Acts may be abbreviated for second or subsequent citations.
• At the first use, provide the abbreviation and year, and put this in round brackets after the full title. For example: Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998). 
• Subsequent citations to the Act can then be abbreviated but must include the year (Note: This is a UoP deviation from OSCOLA).

• If you are using legislation from multiple jurisdictions in the same piece of work,  jurisdictions need to be indicated. Include the jurisdiction abbreviations in round brackets. 

• Legislation from other jurisdictions (nations and parts of nations) should be cited as the source is cited in that jurisdiction. For more guidance on this see the sources in OSCOLA 5.3.
• Remove full stops from any abbreviations.
• If necessary, give the jurisdiction in round brackets using either the full name or an abbreviation before the pinpoint.
• If the title is in another language, give the translation into English first, followed by the original in italics, within round brackets.

Footnote

¹  Accident Compensation Act 1972 (NZ)

²  1976 Standard Terms Act (Gesetz über Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen) (FRG)