Fifth edition of The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities published

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OSCOLA cover

A new edition of The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) has been published.

OSCOLA was devised by Professor Peter Birks in 2000, in consultation with students and academics at the Oxford Faculty of Law. It is designed to facilitate accurate citation of authorities, legislation and other legal materials, and is widely used in law schools and by journal and book publishers in the UK and beyond. Subsequent editions of OSCOLA were produced in 2002, 2004 and 2012.

The new fifth edition is edited by Professor James Goudkamp, with Professor Donal Nolan as consultant editor. It provides more detailed coverage of domestic legal sources and reinstates a section on the treatment of international law sources – now substantially revised – that builds on material included in early editions.

OSCOLA is underpinned by two guiding principles: consistency and consideration for the reader. By promoting a clear and uniform approach to the citation of legal authorities, it aims to support more effective legal writing and to make legal materials easier to navigate.