WEEK 2:

CITING AUTHORITIES
Assigned presentations
Republic v Attorney General ex p Council of
Legal Education [2017] eKLR (HCt at Nairobi)
Odinga v Independent Electoral and Boundaries
Commission [2017] eKLR (SCt) par 175 per
Ojwang, SCJ (dissenting)
Evans Odhiambo Kidero & 4 others v Ferdinand
Ndungu Waititu & 4 others [2014] eKLR (SCt
AG v Ndii [2022] eKLR (SCt)
WEEK 2: 12TH SEPT 2018-
CITING AUTHORITIES

Introduction
Vancouver Style
Turabian Style
American Psychological Association (APA)
Style
Oxford System of Citation of Legal
Authorities (OSCOLA)
 Week 2: Readings:
Wekesa, M (2016) Research Methods for
Lawyers and Other Professionals.
Nairobi:Sportslink Ltd – pp 28-35
OSCOLA 2006 - The Oxford Standard for
Citation of Legal Authorities <
http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/published/oscola.sh
tml<
pp 1-44
OSCOLA 2012 - Oxford Law - University of
Oxford <
https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscol
a_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf
WEEK 2: 12TH SEPT 2018-
CITING AUTHORITIES

Introduction
Vancouver Style
Turabian Style
American Psychological Association (APA)
Style
Oxford System of Citation of Legal
Authorities (OSCOLA)
INTRODUCTION
 INTRODUCTION- CITING REFERENCES
Avoid plagiarism
Plagiarism is academic fraud – using
other people’s knowledge as if it were
your own
Plagiarism means using someone
else’s ideas, written or otherwise, but
passing them off as your own.
Plagiarism is taken very seriously by
the University and can be very
severely punished.
 Why cite references
To provide your reader with the details needed
to locate the original documents used in your
research.
To enable the examiner to check your sources
to make sure that your information is correct.
To demonstrate to the examiner that you have
read a wide variety of materials and that your
research is credible. Shows seriousness
Shows good organisation
Is unavoidable in many legal settings, e.g.
Legal briefs, submissions court and legal
opinions
 Plagiarism
However, one area of ethical concern to
researchers and research institutions is
‘plagiarism’. This is simply seen as the
practice of ‘grabbing’ other people’s
work and making it appear as one’s
own. In practice, one copies texts or
parts thereof, inserts them in one’s
work without acknowledging the
source. This practice is also called
‘academic dishonesty’.
High Court:
18. The fact that both the computer and
internet showed up in life does not mean that
people just google, copy and paste every other
thing they come across while researching.
What counsel did is reminiscent of those days
in school when a teacher would give pupils or
students assignments to do, one or two of the
candidates copy from others and present that
as their work. It did not auger well for values
of honesty and hard work. […]. Counsel are
advised kindly not to encourage such
lackadaisical culture. Those on whom are
bestowed the oracles of assisting the court to
 Plagiarism ---
Through the practice of ‘copy’
and ‘paste’ many students
plagiarize other people’s work.
Students should learn how to cite
references and be discouraged
from acts of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is punishable through
disqualification and or suspension
Citation
Citation of references can be looked at in
terms of in-text and
references/bibliography. The phrase in-
text citation is used to refer to citations
within a text.
The purpose of in-text citation is to enable
a reader to see the source of the materials
used by the author. Very scanty
information is given at this stage.
In many styles, only the author, year and
sometimes, the page number are
indicated.
Citation ---
In some court decisions, one is likely to
come across passages such as this one
below:
In the matter of Ben Joakim v Jenda
Holdings Ltd civil case No. 2000 of
2019 (decided at Voi), Lady Justice
Namachemo reiterated and affirmed the
principle in Joseph Kim v London
Metropolitan Borough 5 AC 1948 in
which Lady Justice Mikinyango stated
that ‘courts obviously take Judicial
WEEK 2: 12TH SEPT 2018-
CITING AUTHORITIES

Introduction
Vancouver Style

Turabian Style
American Psychological
Association (APA) Style
Oxford System of Citation of
Legal Authorities (OSCOLA)
VANCOUVER STYLE
 Vancouver Style
The Vancouver citation style is also known as the
Vancouver reference style or “Uniform Requirements
for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”.
It is an author-number system.
The Vancouver style uses reference numbers in the
text and a reference list at the end of the document,
e.g.
The mode of transmission of malaria is well known
(32).
Or
Karanja (5) has stated that -----
Or
Kalola (4) and Mbuthia (5) hold the view that -----
Vancouver
The reference list at the end of the document
must be arranged in the order in which the
citations appear.
The numbering here must of necessity
correspond to the numbering in the text. In
general, the format for a reference list for
books is:
Author surname initials. Title:subtitle.
Edition. Place of publication:Publisher; year,
e.g.
1. Ekiror J. Textbook of nursing practice.
Lodwar:Elimu Publishers; 2019.
WEEK 2: 12TH SEPT 2018-
CITING AUTHORITIES

Introduction
Vancouver Style

Turabian Style
American Psychological
Association (APA) Style
Oxford System of Citation of
Legal Authorities (OSCOLA)
TURABIAN STYLE
Turabian Style
The Turabian style consists of two systems,
namely, the notes-bibliography style (also known
as the bibliography style) and the author-date
style (also referred to as the List style).
The bibliography style finds usage mostly in
history, literature and the arts. Here,
bibliographic information is presented in
footnotes or endnotes and usually has a
bibliography.
The List style is used in the physical, natural and
social sciences. In this system, the author’s last
name and year of publication are cited in-text.
Thereafter, full bibliographic information is
provided in the list of references.
WEEK 2: 12TH SEPT 2018-
CITING AUTHORITIES

Introduction
Vancouver Style
Turabian Style
American Psychological
Association (APA) Style
Oxford System of Citation of Legal
Authorities (OSCOLA)
American Psychological Association (APA)
Style
APA STYLE
The American Psychological Association (APA)
has devised a system of writing reports and
essays in psychology and social sciences.
The APA style also distinguishes between in-
text citations and references.
Landa (2017) observed that many families in
Guinea suffered emotional stress during the
outbreak of ebola.
OR
During the outbreak of ebola in Guinea, many
people suffered emotional stress (Landa,
WEEK 2: 12TH SEPT 2018-
CITING AUTHORITIES

Introduction
Vancouver Style
Turabian Style
American Psychological
Association (APA) Style
Oxford System of Citation of Legal
Authorities (OSCOLA)
Oxford System of Citation of
Legal Authorities (OSCOLA)
 OSCOLA
The OSCOLA style is a
footnotes style.
This means that only
footnotes are used for in-text
citation.
The footnotes are to be
numbered sequentially in the
 OSCOLA
Some scholars are of the view that Kenyans made a good
decision to create a Supreme Court in the Constitution.1
Others aver that this move has made litigation very
expensive in that it takes longer to get to the Supreme
Court.2 It is not lost to observers that this situation has
also meant that a matter can be looked at several times
before it is concluded at the Supreme Court. 3
Nevertheless the judicial landscape has changed.4

1
Tshisaga FP ‘Kenya’s Justice System’ (2019) 4 MKULJ
220
2
Kamau J ‘The Judiciary in Kenya’ (2016) 43 SULJ 70
3
ibid
4
n1
 Foreign Words
Rules: Foreign words and phrases are italicized
and, if necessary, translated in an immediately
following parenthesis.
 However, as a guide, those appearing in the
following list may be judged to have passed into
everyday legal usage, and do not require
italicization:
amicus curiae; a priori; a fortiori; bona fide; de
facto; de jure; ex parte; ex post facto; indicia;
inter alia; laissez-faire; per se; prima facie;
quantum meruit; quid pro quo; raison d’être;
ratio decidendi; stare decisis; terra nullius
 Title

The golden rule is to keep your title

short.
Try to keep the title within six words.
The same principle of economy applies
to the titles of chapters and to headings
and sub-headings.
The title of the article or chapter should
be bolded, centred, and appear in
capitals
Gender -Neutral Language
Example: ‘When an employee wishes to resign,
the employee must …’
OR ‘An employee wishing to resign must
…’
OR
Example: ‘Notice must be given by the
employee in writing …’
rather than
‘The employee must tender his or her notice in
writing’
 Names
Rules:
Conventional titles such as Mr and Ms, and
honorific titles or titles indicating qualification,
such as Dame, Dr or Professor, may be included
in the text before a person’s name (although
this practice is not required).
 Ms Mary Wanjala... Prof Maina Ouma... Mrs
Nancy Mbaya ... Mr Kitii Kateti
No titles, whether conventional or honorific,
should be included before an author’s name
cited in footnotes:
M Wanjala... M Ouma ….. N Mbaya ….. K Kateti
 Use of full stops

Rule: Abbreviations, whether in text or footnotes, are not

marked by full stops.
Examples: eg not e.g. HL, not H.L. CJ and LJJ not C.J. and
L.JJ.
Rule: A full stop should appear inside a closing bracket
only when it completes a full sentence contained therein.
Examples: While some part-time workers are low-skilled,
many more are working in jobs for which they are over-
skilled (because of discrimination against part-time
workers in access to the relevant jobs).
The report recommended that there be no legal obligation
on employers to structure their training in order to
accommodate part-timers. (This was the subject of such
criticism that the final Regulation was amended.)
 Hyphen and dashes
Rule: A hyphen is used to make one word out of the two
words separated by the hyphen.
Examples: law-making, decision-making, Secretary-
General, Attorney-General

Rules: An em-dash (the longer dash) is used to mark an
interruption in the structure of a sentence.
Alternatively, an em-dash can be used to replace a colon.
Examples: The Judge – after listening to the mitigation –
acquitted the accused.

Rules: An en-dash is longer than a hyphen and half as
long as an em-dash. It is used for ranges of numbers.
Examples-
 pp 1-20, ages 13-19, salary range 10,000-20,000
 The Use of Capitals
Rules: Other than at the beginning of a sentence, in
the titles of works, and in OSCOLA headings,
capitals should only be used for proper nouns.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following should be
capitalized:
 Act of Parliament
 Attorney-General
 Bill
 Constitution
 Governor
 his Honour, her Honour, their Honours
 their Lordships
 Lords Justices
 Parliament
Use of capitals
The following words should not be capitalized:
 common law, and other names of legal
classification (eg criminal law, commercial law)
 court (unless naming it—eg High Court)
 judiciary
 legislature
 local government
 press
 schedule
 statute
DEALING WITH JUDGES
Rules: Where necessary, the author/s of the
judgment being cited may be identified in round
brackets after the pinpoint. ‘Per’ is not to be
used. Judges should only be identified in
footnotes where there is good reason for doing so.
Examples:
Okwiri v Eburu [2018] eKLR (Ogola J)
Pendo v R [2021] eKLR (Ogeto and Kinga JJA)
Odinga v IEBC [2017] eKLR (Maraga, Mwilu,
Wanjala and Lenaola SCJJ)
Harman v Secretary of State for the Home Dept
[1983] 1 AC 280 (HL) 308 (Lord Keith).
Judges Writing Curially and Extra-Curially
Rules: Judges writing curially should be
referred to by their surname with the
conventional abbreviation identifying their
judicial office. Honorifics such as ‘The
Honourable’ are not included.
Examples: Citing a judge writing curially in
the text:

In Esso Australia Resources Ltd v Gas and

Fuel Corporation of Victoria,54 Gobbo J
stated that ...
 Extra-curially
Rules: When judges write extra-curially, they
should be named as they are named in the
publication in question. It is not necessary to
notice later honours and promotions.

Examples: Lord Goff and G Jones The Law of
Restitution (Sweet & Maxwell London 1998)
Footnotes
The purpose of footnotes is to provide
authority for a proposition or argument, and,
in moderation, to identify supplementary
sources for the reader.
Additional text and quotations are strongly
discouraged and must be avoided unless
really necessary.
Footnotes must not become the vehicle for
the conduct of interesting counter-
arguments.
Footnotes end with a full stop or question
 OSCOLA Citations
OSCOLA citations use no punctuation at all,
except inverted commas round the titles of
journals, and commas where it is imperative
to separate items which would otherwise run
together. Examples –

JH Baker An Introduction to English Legal

History (4th edn Butterworths London 2002)
419–421

A Burrows and E McKendrick Cases and
The Position of Footnote Markers
USE BIG OSCOLA
 Position of Footnote markers
Always after the relevant punctuation:
Some scholars are of the view that Kenyans
made a good decision to create a Supreme
Court in the Constitution.1 Others aver that
this move has made litigation very expensive
in that it takes longer to get to the Supreme
Court.2 It is not lost to observers that this
situation has also meant that a matter can be
looked at several times before it is concluded
at the Supreme Court. 3 Nevertheless the
judicial landscape has changed.4
Abbreviations within Footnotes
Rules: In footnotes, the following words and
phrases should be abbreviated:

appendix app
article/articles (of a Constitution or treaty)
art/arts
chapter/chapters ch/chs
section/sections (of statutes) s/ss
edition/editions edn/edns
editor/editors ed/eds
Cross-Reference and Cross-Citation
Cross-references refer the reader to material
elsewhere in the work.
The form for cross-citation is ‘Jones (n 10) 23’.
This indicates that the reader is to consult page
23 of the work of Jones which is fully cited in note
10 of the current chapter or article.
If in note 10 two works of Jones are cited, the
ambiguity can be resolved by adding a date or
distinctive word, as ‘Jones 1999 (n 10) 23’.
If in note 10 two authors both of the same name
are cited, the ambiguity can be avoided by the
addition of an initial, as ‘A Jones (n 10) 23’.
Cross citation
Notice the omission of ‘above’ and ‘below’
(eg ‘n 10 above’) which are superfluous and
must not be included.
Latin gadgets such as supra, infra, ante, post,
id, op cit and loc cit are not to be used. There
are two exceptions to this ban on Latin codes,
namely ‘ibid’ and ‘cf’.
The word ‘ibid’, which is derived from
‘ibidem’ meaning ‘in the same place’, is used
with the meaning ‘immediately previous
citation’.

Long and Short Quotations
 Quotations of three lines or less are incorporated into the text
and are enclosed by single quotation marks.

 Longer quotations are indented from both the left and right
and are single-spaced without quotation marks.

 The font is the same size as in the text, not smaller.

 Quotations within short quotations take double quotation
marks.

 Quotations within long quotations take single quotation marks.

 Full stops and other concluding marks of punctuation at the
end of quotations should be placed outside the inverted
commas unless they are part of the quotation.
REFERRING TO NUMBERS
Numbers under 10 should be written in
words.
Figures should be used for numbers over
nine, including centuries (eg ‘20th century’);
when the material contains a sequence of
stated quantities, numbers, ages, etc (eg
children in the 7–12 age group); for numbers
of sections, clauses, paragraphs, etc; and
wherever words would appear clumsy.
Numbers
A sentence should never begin
with a numeral (even if it is a
date). In such a case the number
must be spelled.
Number sequences show the
first number in full, an en-dash,
and then the last number
expressed in accordance with
the rules governing reference to
 numbers
Commas are to be used to designate thousands from
the number 10,000 upwards.
 Examples: 5000 12,345 56,789 654,321
Whenever the range between two numbers
delineating a sequence of pages (or paragraphs)
crosses the boundary between two or more units of
100, both numbers should be cited in full.
 Examples: 96–117; 195–305; 401–500; 1206–1310;
2100–3100; 13,729– 13,803
Otherwise - 1–9; 1002–6, but note 602–805; 1304–
1407
On all other occasions, the final two digits of the
second number should be cited.
 Examples: 12–15; 113–16; 460–61; 400–99; 721–25;
342–50; 1536–42; 14,325–28
 REFERRING TO DATES
Full Dates
The correct format is as follows: 16 November 2000.
Decades
 Abbreviations such as ‘the nineties’ or ‘the ‘90s’ should
not be used.
 Examples: 1990s not 1990’s not ’90s
 Periods of Dates
 Spans of dates should be separated by an en-dash.
 Examples: 1997–98 1999–2001 3 May–30 October
Century
 The number of the century should be written in words up
to and including nine. From10, figures are used. The
ordinal ‘th’ is in superscript font:
 Examples 20th century, 19th century, but fifth century
 cases
Case names should appear in italics, including the v
which takes no full stop.

Muteshi v Ruto [2013] eKLR (HCt)

instead of
Adrian Muteshi v William Samoei Ruto [2013] eKLR
(HCt)

Where the parties are individuals, given names and

initials are omitted. (However, where two cases
involve different parties with the same given names,
initials should be used to avoid confusion between
them.)
Cases ---
Where there are multiple parties, only the
first claimant and first defendant are named.

Oyier v Achieng [2017] eKLR (HCt)

Instead of
Dinah Adhiambo Oyier v Hellen Achieng,
George Otieno Ogongo, Judith Sande and Kevin
Odhiambo [2017] eKLR
(HCt)
Cases ---
Where a party is a firm or corporation its
name is not to be abbreviated, except that
any ‘and’ is replaced by an ampersand (&),
e.g.

Okwanda v Minister of Health & Medical

Services [2013] eKLR (HCt)
instead of
Matthew Okwanda v Minister of Health and
Medical Services and 3 ors [2013] eKLR
 Foreign cases
For foreign cases, it is advisable to use their
particular citation style, e.g.
Attorney General v Dow (2001) AHRLR 99 (BwCA
1992)
S v Acheson 1991(2) SA 805
CAS 2014/A/3498 IAAF v Turkish Athletic
Federation & Asli Cakir-Alptekin.
Stretford v The Football Association Ltd [2007]
EWCA Civ. 238
Lundgren v Sweden Application No. 22506/93,
1995, ECHR
McInnes v Onslow Fane [1978] 1 WLR 1520
Meca-Medina v Commission [2006] ECR I-6991
 PINPOINTS
Specific page references should be preceded by a
comma and a space, if not preceded by an
attribution to a court.
However, where the attribution to a court appears in
parenthesis, it is unnecessary to insert a comma
before the first specific page reference.
Where the pinpoint reference is to the first page of
the report, the page number should be repeated.
Citations should not normally include letters (A, B,
etc) printed in the margin in some series of reports.
Reference to the relevant page or paragraph is
sufficient.
Where a judgment has numbered paragraphs, the
pinpoint should always be to the paragraph.
 PINPOINTS
Beattie v E & F Beattie Ltd [1938] Ch 708
(CA) 708.
Rees v Bank of New South Wales (1964) 111
CLR 210 (HCA) 218, 229–30.
R v Leeds County Court, ex p Morris [1990] 1
QB 523, 526–9.
R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex p
Factortame Ltd [1990] 2 AC 85 (HL) 140
(Lord Bridge).
Dombo Beheer BV v Netherlands Series A No
274-A, (1994) 18 EHRR 213, [33].
 PINPOINTS---
Where multiple citations are required (eg Supreme
Court of Canada decisions reported in SCR and
DLR; English nominate reports and ER; neutral
citations and official report series; Series A and
EHRR) and the case is subsequently referred to in
a proximate footnote with pinpoints, semi-colons
should separate the citations and pinpoints from
each source.

Examples: 44 Baker v Canada (Minister of

Citizenship & Immigration) [1999] 2 SCR 817,
858; (1999) 174 DLR (4th) 193, 228.
US cases
Use the style used in USA reports.
The name of the report series is abbreviated.
For federal courts: a citation of a decision of the Supreme
Court of the United States does not require the name of
the court. Both the US and S Ct reports should be cited.
The Court of Appeals should be referred to by the
numbered circuit (1st, 2nd, etc). The United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit should be
cited as ‘DC Cir’. The United States Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit should be cited as ‘Fed Cir’.
For state courts: indicate the state and court of decision.
Give the year of the decision in parenthesis after the name
of the court.
 US Cases
Federal Open Market Committee v Merrill 443 US
340, 99 S Ct 2800 (1979).
Glenmede Trust Co v Thompson 56 F 3d 476 (3rd
Cir 1995).
H L Hayden Co v Siemens Medical Systems, Inc
106 FRD 551 (SDNY 1985), aff’d 797 f 2d 85 (2nd
Cir 1986).
Re ‘Agent Orange’ Product Liability Litigation (MDL
No 381) 104 FRD 559 (EDNY 1985), aff’d 821 F 2d
139 (2nd Cir 1987), cert denied 484 US 522 (1987).

 Statutes
Abbreviations are only to be used in
footnotes. They adopt the following format:
section s
sections ss
sub-section sub-s
sub-sections sub-ss
paragraph para
schedule sch
part pt article
art articles arts
Legislation
Examples:
In footnotes:
 s 5(2), not sub-s 5(2)
ss 5(2), (3)(a), not sub-ss 5(2), (3)(a)
In the text:
 The application of section 47 of the Trade Practices
Act 1974 (Cth), in particular sub-section (7)(a), has
shown that ...
 Section 8(1) of the Commerce Act 1986 (NZ), by

which the Commerce Commission is established, ...

 Delegated legislation
In footnotes:
 r 59(1), not sub-r 59(1)
regs 5(2), (3)(a), not sub-regs 5(2), (3)
(a)

In the text:

 The application of rule 61, in
particular sub-rules (3) and (4), has
demonstrated ...
 Journals
Use the OSCOLA recommended
abbreviations as much as possible and
italicize the journal, e.g.
E Namukhula ‘Respect of International
Commitments in Kenya’ (2017) 302 AJIL
45
J Kinoti ‘Assessing the Impact of Pre-Bar
Examinations on the Final Grade in the
Bar Examinations’ (2019) 5 MKULJ 105
 Books
Books (Single Author):
E Cotran Casebook on Kenyan
Customary Law (Nairobi
University Press Nairobi 1995)
M Wekesa Research Methods for
Lawyers and other Professionals
(Sportslink Ltd Nairobi 2016)
 Books (Several Authors)
S Wanjala and K Kibwana Elements of
Land Law (5th edn Oxford University Press
Nairobi 2011)

For three or more authors –

M Nyokabi and Others Law of Equity
(103rd edn OUP Nairobi 2030)
OR
M Nyokabi et al Law of Equity (103rd edn
OUP Nairobi 2030)
For chapters in Edited Books –
L Muraguri et al ‘IPRs, Agriculture and Food
Security’ in M Wekesa & B Sihanya (eds)
Intellectual Property Rights in Kenya (Konrad
Nairobi 2009) 39-72
D Herhaus & M Wekesa ‚Die Bedeutung von
Sport und Spiel fuer die
Persoenlichkeitsentwicklung des
asthmakranken Kindes‘ in J Lecher & J
Fischer (eds) Bewegung und Sport bei
Asthma Bronchiale (Echo Verlags-GmbH
Cologne 1990)
Chapters in edited books ---
M Wekesa ‘The Female Athlete in Namibia’
in: K Christensen, A Guttman & G Pfister
(eds) International Encyclopedia of Women
and Sports (Macmillan New York 2001) 786-
87

M Wekesa ‘An Overview of Intellectual

Property Rights in Kenya’ in M Wekesa & B
Sihanya (eds) Intellectual Property Rights in
Kenya (Konrad Nairobi 2009) 1-12
 E-mails
Rules: Electronic mail should be cited in the
following manner:
author <author’s email address> email (full
date of message).

For the sake of clarity, it is usual to insert the

full first name of the author rather than a mere
initial.
 Example: James Njogu<[email protected]>
email (13 January 2020).
 Websites
Rules: Information derived from an internet source,
which is not covered elsewhere in these style
guidelines, should be cited in the following manner:
author ‘title’ <URL> (last date of access).
Where there is no identifiable author, two joined
em-dashes are used.
 Example:
—— ‘Call from UN in Kosovo No Concern for
Ruddock’ ABC News
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2000/04/item200004131
84112_1.htm> (12 April 2001).
ET Gibson ‘Exploring the Court of Arbitration for
Sport’, Law Library J 98(3): 503 <
http://www.allnet.org/mn/publications/llj/LLJ-Archives/
Vol.96/pub_llj_v98n03/2006-28.pdf
> (20 July 2015)
UN and other international materials
See OSCOLA
END