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Citing to Foreign and International Legal Materials

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You should try to follow The Bluebook (18th ed.) as closely as possible, but keep in mind that it is not always adequate for the materials you will be citing. Use the rules and examples as models and try to include as much information as possible so that someone else can locate the materials.

Some general rules to keep in mind:

  • Provide enough information so someone else will be able to locate what you have cited.
  • Be consistent throughout the document.
  • Check the source by searching the full text law review files on both LexisNexis and Westlaw to determine how other journals are citing to the same source.

Internet Materials, Rule 18.2, format suggestion:

[name of source], [the provider of the resource if not apparent from the URL], available at [URL] (last visited [date]).

Foreign Materials:

The Bluebook does not provide guidance for all jurisdictions. Use Rule 20 and Table 2 for some basic guidance.

International Materials:

The Bluebook now provides more guidance for international materials, including international case law. See rule 21.5.3 for the citation format for the European Court of Human Rights; rule 21.5.4 for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (there is also an example for the Court); 21.5.6 for international criminal tribunals; and 21.5.7 for other multinational courts. There is a bit more clarification on UN documents (rule 21.7) and some information for other IGOs (rule 21.8). See also Tables 3 and 4.

This guide was prepared by Marci Hoffman, International and Foreign Law Librarian, UC Berkeley Law Library, revised January 2008.
email: webmaster-library@law.berkeley.edu Last modified on August 07, 2005.