Mastering Legal Citation (VCE SSCE Legal Studies): Revision Notes
Mastering Legal Citation
Legal citation is essential for referencing laws and legal cases accurately in your VCE Legal Studies coursework. Throughout your course, you will encounter numerous laws and cases, and understanding how to cite them correctly demonstrates legal literacy and precision.
What is legal citation?
Legal citation is the system used to refer to legal documents and sources such as cases and Acts of Parliament in a consistent and accurate way. Think of it as a standardised language that allows legal professionals, students and academics to identify and reference specific legal materials.
The two most commonly cited types of legal documents are:
- Acts of Parliament (also called statutes or legislation) – laws made by parliaments
- Judgments from legal cases (also called court decisions) – decisions handed down by courts and tribunals
Mastering legal citation helps you read legal materials confidently and reference them correctly in your notes, essays and exam responses. Proper citation also demonstrates academic integrity and allows others to locate the exact sources you have used.
Citing Acts of Parliament
Structure of Act citations
An Act of Parliament is a law made by parliament; specifically, a bill that has passed through parliament and received royal assent (also known as a statute). Acts are made by various parliaments in Australia, including state and territory parliaments and the Commonwealth Parliament.
Acts of Parliament follow a three-part citation structure:
- The name of the Act or statute – the official title given to the law; always written in italics
- The year it was made – the year parliament passed the Act; also written in italics
- The parliament that passed it – uses abbreviations such as Vic (Victoria), NSW (New South Wales), Cth (Commonwealth)
Example 1: Victorian Act
Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)
- Title: Crimes Act
- Year: 1958
- Parliament: (Vic) – Victorian Parliament
This citation tells us the Crimes Act was passed by the Victorian Parliament in 1958.
Example 2: Commonwealth Act
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)
- Title: Competition and Consumer Act
- Year: 2010
- Parliament: (Cth) – Commonwealth Parliament
This citation tells us the Competition and Consumer Act was passed by the Commonwealth Parliament in 2010.
Citing amending Acts
Amending Acts are a special type of statute that change or update existing Acts. Once an amending Act has made its changes to the principal Act (the Act being amended), the amending Act is repealed (cancelled) and no longer appears in the list of current Acts.
For example, the Justice Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (Vic) amended several Victorian Acts including the Crimes at Sea Act 1999 (Vic) and the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic). The amendments might delete sections, change wording or add new provisions.
Once these changes took effect, the amending Act itself was repealed (in this case, on 5 October 2024). This means amending Acts have a temporary existence – they make their changes and then cease to exist as separate laws.
Amending Acts are cited in the same way as other Acts. Sometimes the title clearly indicates it is an amending Act (by including the word "Amendment"), but not always.
Example 3: Amending Act
Justice Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (Vic)
This tells us an amending Act was passed by the Victorian Parliament in 2022 to update various justice-related legislation.
Citing bills
Bills are draft laws that have been presented to parliament but have not yet been passed into law. When citing bills, use the same format as Acts, with two key differences:
Key differences when citing bills:
- Replace the word 'Act' with 'Bill'
- Do not italicise the title
Example 4: Bill
Disability Amendment Bill 2004 (Vic)
This citation shows a proposed law (the Disability Amendment Bill) was presented to the Victorian Parliament in 2004 but had not yet been passed.
Citing legal cases
Whenever a tribunal or court hands down a written decision or judgment, it receives a citation so people can refer back to it. Case citations allow lawyers, judges and students to locate specific decisions quickly and accurately.
Structure of case citations
Legal case citations generally include three pieces of information:
-
The names of the parties – the person who starts the case is named first (called the plaintiff, prosecutor or applicant), followed by v (versus), then the other party. Names are written in italics. If there are multiple parties, the case name usually includes only the first party from each side.
-
The year of the decision – the year the judgment was published, shown in either square brackets or round brackets depending on the report.
-
The citation given by the court – all Australian court cases now have a medium neutral citation, which is the court's unique identifier for the decision. This uses an abbreviation showing which court heard the case.
Court identifiers
Understanding court abbreviations is essential for identifying where a case was heard:
| Court Identifier | Court |
|---|---|
| HCA | High Court of Australia |
| FCA | Federal Court of Australia |
| FamCA | Family Court of Australia |
| VSCA | Victorian Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) |
| VSC | Victorian Supreme Court (Trial Division) |
| VCC | County Court of Victoria |
| VMC | Magistrates' Court of Victoria |
| VCAT | Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal |
Examples of case citations
Example 5: Civil case
Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1
- Parties: Commonwealth of Australia and State of Tasmania
- The v is short for versus, pronounced as "and" in civil cases
- Year: 1983
- Law report: Volume 158 of the Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR), page 1
Example 6: Criminal case
DPP v Styles [2017] VCC 96 (9 February 2017)
- Parties: Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and a person surnamed Styles
- The v is short for versus, pronounced as "against" in criminal cases
- Year: The judgment was given on 9 February 2017
- Court: County Court of Victoria (VCC)
- Case number: No. 96 in the court's list for 2017
Key difference in pronunciation:
In civil cases, v is said as "and" (Commonwealth and Tasmania), while in criminal cases it is said as "against" (DPP against Styles).
Citing other laws, rules and regulations
Rules and regulations
Parliament can authorise other bodies to make regulations and rules. These are described as delegated legislation or secondary legislation because parliament delegates (gives) its law-making power to another body.
To cite rules and regulations, use the name given to them ('Rules' or 'Regulations') and follow the same format as Acts of Parliament.
Example 7: Victorian rules
Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2005 (Vic)
These rules were made in 2005 by the judges of the Supreme Court to govern civil court procedures.
Example 8: Commonwealth regulations
Native Title (Federal Court) Regulations 1998 (Cth)
These regulations were made in 1998 to support the operation of native title law in federal courts.
Local laws
Local laws are passed by local councils to regulate activities within their municipality. They are easily identifiable because the title contains the words 'Local Law' and the name of the council.
Example 9: Local law
Melbourne City Council Activities Local Law 2009
This local law was made by Melbourne City Council in 2009 to regulate various activities within the City of Melbourne.
Exam technique: Using citations correctly
Essential citation guidelines for VCE assessments:
In your VCE assessments, proper citation demonstrates legal knowledge and attention to detail. Follow these guidelines:
- Always italicise Act names and case names when typing (or underline them when handwriting)
- Include all three components: title/names, year, and parliament/court
- Use correct abbreviations (Vic, Cth, VCC, etc.)
- In case names, use v not 'vs.' or 'versus'
- Remember: bills are not italicised, but Acts are
- When discussing cases in text, you can shorten to just the party names after the first full citation
Key Points to Remember:
- Legal citation is a standardised system for referencing laws and cases accurately
- Acts of Parliament follow the format: Name Year (Parliament) – e.g. Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)
- Amending Acts change existing laws and are repealed once their changes take effect
- Bills are draft laws cited like Acts but without italics: Name Bill Year (Parliament)
- Case citations include parties, year, and court identifier – e.g. DPP v Styles [2017] VCC 96
- In civil cases, v is pronounced "and"; in criminal cases, it's pronounced "against"
- Court identifiers show where a case was heard (HCA, VSCA, VCC, etc.)
- Delegated legislation (rules and regulations) and local laws follow similar citation formats to Acts