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Info Skills Citing References: Citing an unreported case using OSCOLA

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What is OSCOLA? What is OSCOLA?


OSCOLA stands for The Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities. OSCOLA is a document that was devised to provide a clear set of guidelines on how to cite legal materials.

This tutorial will help you cite an unreported case using OSCOLA.

Citing References > Citing an unreported case To the right is the first page of a case which has been heard in court, but which has not been published in a law report series, or given a neutral citation. Most of the information you need to build a citation is on this page.
Firstly, you need to identify the parties (people or organisations) involved in the case. In this instance, they are Peter Scott and Process Mechanical Limited.

Citing References > Citing an unreported case To the right is the first page of a case which has been heard in court, but which has not been published in a law report series, or given a neutral citation. Most of the information you need to build a citation is on this page.
Firstly, you need to identify the parties (people or organisations) involved in the case. In this instance, they are Peter Scott and Process Mechanical Limited. In your reference, this would be written as: Scott v Process Mechanical Ltd

Citing References > Citing an unreported case To the right is the first page of a case which has been heard in court, but which has not been published in a law report series, or given a neutral citation. Most of the information you need to build a citation is on this page.
Firstly, you need to identify the parties (people or organisations) involved in the case. In this instance, they are Peter Scott and Process Mechanical Limited. In your reference, this would be written as: Scott v Process Mechanical Ltd You should give the party names in italics, separated by an italic v. Omit the first names of individuals. Abbreviate common words, such as Limited to Ltd. See OSCOLA appendix 2 for a list of abbreviations.

Citing References > Citing an unreported case Next you need to give the name of the court in which the case was heard.

In this instance, the court is Bradford County Court.

Citing References > Citing an unreported case Next you need to give the name of the court in which the case was heard.

In this instance, the court is Bradford County Court. So the reference now reads: Scott v Process Mechanical Ltd (Bradford County Court)

Citing References > Citing an unreported case Next you need to give the name of the court in which the case was heard.

In this instance, the court is Bradford County Court. So the reference now reads: Scott v Process Mechanical Ltd (Bradford County Court) Notice that the name of the court is given in round brackets.

Citing References > Citing an unreported case Finally, you need to give the date on which the case was heard in court. The date is not given on the page in this example, but the date was given in the source where the case was located (Lawtel).
In this instance, the date is 20 July 2006.

Citing References > Citing an unreported case Finally, you need to give the date on which the case was heard in court. The date is not given on the page in this example, but the date was given in the source where the case was located (Lawtel).
In this instance, the date is 20 July 2006. So the complete reference now reads: Scott v Process Mechanical Ltd (Bradford County Court 20 July 2006)

Citing References > Citing an unreported case Finally, you need to give the date on which the case was heard in court. The date is not given on the page in this example, but the date was given in the source where the case was located (Lawtel).
In this instance, the date is 20 July 2006. So the complete reference now reads: Scott v Process Mechanical Ltd (Bradford County Court 20 July 2006) Notice that the date follows the name of the court and both are enclosed in round brackets.

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