Legal Case Citation: How UK Students Use and Format Court References in Essays

When you're writing a law essay in the UK, a legal case citation, a standardized way to reference past court decisions that set legal precedents. Also known as case law reference, it's not just about looking professional—it's how you prove your argument is grounded in real law, not just opinion. If you cite R v Brown or Donoghue v Stevenson without the right format, your marker won't know if you're referring to a 1991 Court of Appeal ruling or a 1932 House of Lords decision. That’s how easily marks disappear.

Legal case citations are tied to two main systems used in UK universities: OSCOLA, the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities, the default style for most law degrees, and Harvard referencing, a simpler, author-date style sometimes allowed in interdisciplinary law modules. OSCOLA requires you to include the case name in italics, the year in square brackets, the court, and the law report volume and page number—like R v Brown [1993] 2 All ER 75. Harvard drops the court and uses the year in parentheses after the case name. Mixing them up is a common mistake that costs students easy points.

Knowing where to find these cases matters just as much as how you write them. UK law students rely on free tools like BAILII (British and Irish Legal Information Institute) to pull up full judgments, and university databases like Westlaw or LexisNexis for annotated versions with summaries. If you’re citing a case you found on a blog or Wikipedia, you’re risking your grade. Real legal writing means using authoritative sources, not summaries.

Why does this all matter? Because in law, precedent is everything. A well-cited argument shows you understand how law evolves through decisions—not just what the textbook says. Your marker isn’t just checking your formatting; they’re testing whether you can think like a lawyer. That’s why even top students lose marks not for bad ideas, but for sloppy citations.

You’ll find posts here that walk you through setting up reference managers like Zotero for legal sources, fixing common OSCOLA errors, and even how to cite cases from Scotland or Northern Ireland—where rules can differ slightly. There’s also advice on how to spot fake or outdated cases, how to handle unreported judgments, and how to keep your citations clean when you’re rushing before a deadline.

Whether you’re in your first year of law school or writing your final dissertation, getting legal case citations right isn’t optional. It’s the foundation of every argument you’ll ever make. And if you’ve ever stared at a blank footnote wondering whether to use a comma or a semicolon, you’re not alone. The guides below will save you hours of stress—and lost marks.