Slightly more ambitiously (and perhaps naively), it also attempts to provide a comprehensive and consistent style guide for international law sources in common circulation. As such, it is intended to be a perpetually unfinished and evolving work – it may not possess all of the answers to copyediting questions all of the time, but it is intended to provide most of the answers most of the time. And so it goes.
The GILC has been prepared according to three key principles which run throughout:
In this version 1.4 of the GILC, a new section on EU supranational materials has been added. Many thanks to Ana Julia Mauricio (Managing Editor, CJILC) for her assistance in this respect.
Cameron A. Miles
Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law 1
Guide to International Legal Citation 1
PREFACE 3
CONTENTS 4
I. GENERAL RULES 5
A. General Principles of Editing 5
1. The applicability of the GILC and its evolution 5
2. General principles of the GILC 5
B. Footnotes 5
1. When to footnote 5
2. The position of footnote numbers 6
3. Multiple sources in footnotes 7
4. Full stops at the end of footnotes 7
5. Pinpoint citation 7
6. Introductory signals for citations 8
C. Sources Referring to Other Sources and Subsequent References 9
1. Sources referring to other sources 9
2. Immediately subsequent references 9
3. Cross-references 10
D. Quotations 10
1. Short quotations 10
2. Long quotations 11
3. Editing quotes 11
4. Quotes within quotes 12
5. Punctuation within quotations 13
6. [sic] 14
F. Punctuation 14
1. Full stops 14
2. Em-Dashes, En-Dashes and Hyphens 14
3. Quotation marks 15
4. Numbering 15
G. Capitalisation 16
H. Italicisation 17
1. Italicisation for emphasis 17
2. Italicisation of foreign words 17
I. Headings and Formatting 18
1. Article heading and author 18
2. Heading levels 18
3. Formatting and paragraphs 19
II. PRIMARY SOURCES 20
A. Treaties 20
1. Basic multilateral conventions 20
2. Subsequent references to treaties 21
B. UN Materials 22
1. Constitutive documents 22
2. General Assembly resolutions 22
3. Security Council resolutions 23
4. Other UN documents 23
C. ILC Materials 25
1. The ILC Yearbook in general 25
2. Reports of the Special Rapporteurs 26
3. ILC articles and draft articles 27
4. Unpublished ILC documents 27
D. PCIJ and ICJ 28
1. The PCIJ: the basic rule 28
2. The ICJ: the basic rule 28
3. Declarations, dissents and separate opinions 30
4. Subsequent references to judgments 30
E. International Criminal Law 31
F. International Economic Law 31
1. WTO covered agreements 31
2. Official WTO documents 32
3. Panel, Appellate Body and arbitration decisions 33
G. Other International Decisions 34
1. International investment tribunals 34
2. Decisions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea 35
H. European Union Materials 36
1. Official Journal of the European Union 36
2. Constitutive Documents 37
3. Judicial Decisions 37
I. Supreme Court Edition 38
1. Municipal law sources 38
2. UK unreported decisions 39
3. UK reported decisions 40
4. Municipal statutes 41
III. SECONDARY SOURCES 42
A. Books 42
1. The basic rule 42
2. Book chapters 42
3. Translated and ‘classic’ texts 43
4. Multi-volume works 44
B. Journals 44
1. The basic rule 44
2. A word on journal title abbreviations 45
C. Other Materials 46
1. Internet sources 46
