Referencing style

Legal resources

30 September 2023

HOW TO APPLY

This guide is for students who are studying non-law disciplines. Law students should refer to The New Zealand Law Style Guide.
The guidelines below are for New Zealand cases, Acts and regulations. For other jurisdictions, see Chapter 11 in the APA manual, which largely follows The Bluebook, held in print at the UC Library.

Reported cases

Reference list

Supreme Court, reported cases 2005–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZSC Judgment#, [YearReported] Vol# NZLR FirstPage#.

Kain v. Hutton [2008] NZSC 61, [2008] 3 NZLR 589.

Z v. Dental Complaints Assessment Committee [2008] NZSC 55, [2009] 1 NZLR 1.

Supreme Court cases are routinely reported in the NZLR report series, the only official New Zealand report series.

Court of Appeal, reported cases 2007–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZCA Judgment#, [YearReported] Vol# NZLR FirstPage#.

R v. Wenzel [2009] NZCA 130, [2009] 3 NZLR 47.

Commerce Commission v. Woolworths Ltd [2008] NZCA 276, [2009] NZCCLR 12.

Court of Appeal, reported cases –2006

Case name [YearReported] Vol# NZLR FirstPage# (CA).

Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector [1981] 1 NZLR 239 (CA).

Court of Appeal cases are often reported in the NZLR report series, and NZLR is preferred as the only official New Zealand report series. Use an unofficial report series only if the case is not in NZLR (e.g., NZCCLR in the Commerce Commission v. Woolworths Ltd example) and check Legal Citations of Aotearoa New Zealand to see whether [YearReported] or (YearDecided) is used with that report series.

High Court, reported cases 2012–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZHC Judgment#, [YearReported] Vol#(if any) ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage#.

Case name [YearDecided] NZHC Judgment#, (YearDecided) Vol# ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage#.

Seales v. Attorney-General [2015] NZHC 1239, [2015] 3 NZLR 556.

Pritchard v. Police [2013] NZHC 3278, [2014] NZAR 149.

High Court, reported cases –2011

Case name [YearReported] Vol#(if any) ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage# (HC).

Case name (YearDecided) Vol# ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage# (HC).

R v. Noble (2006) 22 CRNZ 422 (HC).

Use the NZLR report series if the case is reported in that official reporter, but many NZHC are only reported in unofficial report series or are unreported. For unofficial report series check Legal Citations of Aotearoa New Zealand to see whether [YearReported] or (YearDecided) is used with that report series.

District Court, reported cases 2015–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZDC Judgment#, [YearReported] Vol#(if any) ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage#.

Case name [YearDecided] NZDC Judgment#, (YearDecided) Vol# ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage#.

Christchurch City Council v. Pickering [2017] NZDC 13710, [2018] DCR 154.

District Court, reported cases –2014

Case name [YearReported] Vol#(if any) ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage# (DC).

Case name (YearDecided) Vol# ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage# (DC).

R v. T.-J. (2002) 20 CRNZ 1051 (DC).

Use the NZLR report series if the case is reported in that official reporter, but most District Court cases are unreported and if reported at all are reported in unofficial report series. For unofficial report series check Legal Citations of Aotearoa New Zealand to see whether [YearReported] or (YearDecided) is used with that report series.

Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court

Case name – Block name (Year of Judgment –2010) OR& [Year of Judgment 2010–] Minute book reference (Citation).

Bell v. Churton – Mataimoana [2019] 410 Aotea MB 244 (410 AOT 244).

For Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court cases, follow NZLSG rule 3.5, but include a full stop after the ‘v’ in the case name.

Other Courts and Tribunals, reported cases with neutral citations

Case name [YearDecided] CourtIdentifier Judgment#, [YearReported] Vol#(if any) ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage#.

Case name [YearDecided] CourtIdentifier Judgment#, (YearDecided) Vol# ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage#.

Other Courts and Tribunals, reported cases before neutral citations were adopted

Case name [YearReported] Vol#(if any) ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage# (CourtAbbreviation).

Case name (YearDecided) Vol# ReportSeriesAbbreviation FirstPage# (CourtAbbreviation).

NZLSG rule 3.3.3 tabulates when each court and tribunal adopted neutral citations.
Use the NZLR report series if the case is reported in that official reporter. If reported only in unofficial report series, check Legal Citations of Aotearoa New Zealand to see whether [YearReported] or (YearDecided) is used with that report series.

In-text citations

Parenthetical citations: (Case name, year), for example (Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector, 1981; Bell v. Churton, 2019)
Narrative citations: Case name (year), for example Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector (1981) and Bell v. Churton (2019)
Use the year of the neutral citation in text, even when it differs from the year of the report series, for example
Parenthetical citation: (Z v. Dental Complaints Assessment Committee, 2008)
Narrative citation: Z v. Dental Complaints Assessment Committee (2008)

In-text citation: Part of a judgment

Parenthetical citations: (Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector, 1981 at 241; Bell v. Churton, 2019 at [18]–[20]; Kain v. Hutton, 2008 at [20]–[23]; Z v. Dental Complaints Assessment Committee, 2008 at [22], [24] and [28])
Narrative citations: Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector (1981 at 241), Bell v. Churton (2019 at [18]–[20]), Kain v. Hutton (2008 at [12]), and Z v. Dental Complaints Assessment Committee (2008 at [22], [24] and [28])
When the judgment being cited contains paragraph numbers, use paragraph numbers to indicate the part cited. Enclose paragraph numbers in square brackets, even if the judgment text itself does not put paragraph numbers in brackets. Do not use “para.” or “paras.”
When the judgment does not have paragraph numbers, use the page number instead. The number is used alone, without brackets or any preceding “p.” or “pp.”
Precede part numbers with the word “at” and precede any final number in a series with the word “and”

Unreported cases

Reference list

Supreme Court, unreported cases 2005–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZSC Judgment#.

Vincent Ross Siemer v. Auckland High Court [2021] NZSC 173.

Check the NZLR report series whether the case is reported there.

Court of Appeal, unreported cases 2007–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZCA Judgment#.

Dunstan v. Credit Union South [2021] NZCA 656.

Court of Appeal, unreported cases –2006

Case name CAfile#, Date Month Year.

R v. Albert CA429/01, 14 March 2002.

Check whether the case has been reported in NZLR (preferred) or in an unofficial report series.

High Court, unreported cases 2012–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZHC Judgment#.

First Gas Ltd v. Gibbs [2021] NZHC 3309.

High Court, unreported cases –2011

Case name HC RegistryName file#, Date Month Year.

R v. Tuhou HC Napier CRI-2007-020-2820, 11 September 2008.

Check whether the case has been reported in NZLR (preferred) or in an unofficial report series, though most High Court cases never appear in a report series.

District Court, unreported cases 2015–present

Case name [YearDecided] NZDC Judgment#.

WorkSafe New Zealand v. Coastwide Flooring Xtra Ltd [2021] NZDC 8387.

District Court, unreported cases –2014

Case name DC RegistryName file#, Date Month Year.

Department of Labour v. T. M. Jones Ltd DC Taupo CRI-2012-069-1264, 15 February 2013.

Check whether the case has been reported in NZLR (preferred) or in an unofficial report series, though very few District Court cases ever appear in a report series.

Other Courts and Tribunals, unreported cases with neutral citations

Case name [YearDecided] CourtIdentifier Judgment#.

NG v. RG [2021] NZFC 9124.

Other Courts and Tribunals, unreported cases before neutral citations were adopted

Case name CourtAbbreviation RegistryName file#, Date Month Year.

Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd FC Christchurch FAM-2005-009-846, 28 April 2005.

NZLSG rule 3.3.3 tabulates when each court and tribunal adopted neutral citations.
Check whether the case has been reported in NZLR (preferred) or in an unofficial report series.

In-text citations

Parenthetical citations: (Case name, year), for example (Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd, 2005)
Narrative citations: Case name (year), for example Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd (2005)

In-text citation: Part of a judgment

Parenthetical citation: (Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd, 2005 at [20]–[26])
Narrative citation: Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd (2005 at [20]–[26])
Follow the guidance under Reported cases above.

New Zealand Acts and statutes

Short Title of Act Year Enacted. URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Resource Management Act 1991. https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1991/0069/latest/DLM230265.html

Parenthetical citation: (Resource Management Act 1991)
Narrative citation: Resource Management Act 1991
Give the name of the Act including the year.

A part of an Act

Title of Act Year Enacted. URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Atomic Energy Act 1945. https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1945/0041/latest/DLM239213.html

Income Tax Act 2007. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2007/0097/latest/DLM1512385.html

Parenthetical citation: (Atomic Energy Act 1945, ss. 13–14; Income Tax Act 2007, s. BH1)
Narrative citation within a sentence: … ss. 13–14 of the Atomic Energy Act 1945 … s. BH1 of the Income Tax Act 2007
Narrative citation at the beginning of a sentence: Sections 13–14 of the Atomic Energy Act 1945…. Section BH1 of the Income Tax Act 2007…
If referring to a particular part of an Act, include the part details in the in-text citation only.

Imperial Acts and statutes

Short Title of Act Year Enacted, Regnal Years c. Chapter# (Imp.). URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, 15 & 16 Vict. c. 72 (Imp.). https://nzlii.org/nz/legis/imp_act_pharazyn/nzca18521516vc72362

Parenthetical citation: (New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, s. 73)
Narrative citation within a sentence: … s. 73 of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
Narrative citation at the beginning of a sentence: Section 73 of New Zealand Constitution Act 1852…
Before the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947, the U.K. Parliament could legislate for New Zealand. As imperial Acts and statutes are non-New Zealand legislation, reference them in accordance with The Bluebook rule for U.K. statutes enacted prior to 1963.
Indicate parts of imperial Acts and statutes in the same way as for a New Zealand Acts and statutes.

Bills

Title of Bill Year of Introduction (Bill Number-Bar Number). URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill 2018 (106-2). http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2018/0106/14.0/LMS90599.html

Parenthetical citation: (Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill 2018 (106-2))
Narrative citation: Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill 2018 (106-2)
Give the title of the Bill, the year of introduction, Bill number and bar number.

A part of a Bill

Title of Bill Year of Introduction (Bill Number-Bar Number). URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2). http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2018/0032/6.0/LMS22743.html

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill (79-3). https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2015/0079/latest/whole.html

Parenthetical citations: (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2), cl. 6; Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill (79-3), cls. 38, 41–42)
Narrative citations within a sentence: … cl. 6 of the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2) … cls. 38, 41–42 of the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill (79-3)
Narrative citations at the beginning of a sentence: Clause 6 of the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2)…. Clauses 38, 41–42 of the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill (79-3) …
If referring to a particular part of a Bill, include the part details in the in-text citation only.

Explanatory notes to Bills and select committee reports on Bills

Parenthetical citations: (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) (explanatory note); Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill (79-2) (select committee report))
Narrative citations: The explanatory note to the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) ... the select committee report on the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill (79-2)
To indicate the part of the note or report, use the legal-style method to pinpoint:
Parenthetical citation: (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) (explanatory note) at 2)
Narrative citation: The explanatory note to the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) (at 2) …

Draft Bills not introduced into Parliament

Government Agency. (Year). Title of document: Subtitle if any. Website Name. URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Member, M. M. (Year). Title of document: Subtitle if any. Website Name. URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Hague, K. (2012). Draft for consultation: Care of Children (Adoption and Surrogacy Law Reform) Amendment Bill. Adoption Action. http://adoptionaction.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2015-06-23-Care-of-Children-Adoption-and-Surrogacy-Law-Reform-Amendment-Bill_v1.pdf

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment–Hīkina Whakatutuki. (2017). Draft for consultation: Financial Services Legislation Amendment Bill. https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/946-financial-services-legislation-amendment-bill-draft-pdf

Ministry of Justice. (2020). Cannabis Legislation and Control Bill: Exposure draft for referendum. referendums 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201009043526/https://www.referendums.govt.nz/materials/Cannabis-Legalisation-and-Control-Bill-Exposure-Draft-for-Referendum.pdf

Watts, S. (2022). Draft for consultation: Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill. New Zealand Parliament. https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/proposed-members-bills/life-jackets-for-children-and-young-persons-bill-simon-watts/

Parenthetical citations: (Hague, 2012, cl. 220(1); Ministry of Justice, 2020, cls. 78–80)
Narrative citations within a sentence: … cl. 220(1) of Hague (2012) … cls. 78–80 of the Ministry of Justice (2020)
Narrative citations at the beginning of a sentence: Clause 220(1) of Hague (2012) .... Clauses 78–80 of the Ministry of Justice (2020) ...
As draft Bills are arranged in clauses in the same way that introduced Bills are, indicate the part of work in the same way.

Draft Bills have not been introduced into Parliament and do not have a Bill Number or Bar Number. They should not be referenced as Bills but rather in a similar way to reports.
Exposure draft Bills are released by the responsible government agency as part of a consultation process. Treat the government agency as the author.
Proposed members’ Bills are put forward by MPs who are not Ministers. The Member proposing the legislation is the author.
The year of the draft Bill does not usually appear on the document itself, but the year may often be found on the webpage linking to it, from Member’s Bills Ballots on the New Zealand Parliament website or from legal commentary. If the year cannot be identified, use n.d.

Name of regulation. URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2004/0236/latest/DLM276730.html

Parenthetical citation: (Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004, reg. 2(1))
Narrative citation within a sentence: … reg. 2(1) of the Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004
Narrative citation at the beginning of a sentence: Regulation 2(1) of the Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004 …

Regulations are cited in a similar way to Acts.
Parts of secondary legislation are indicated in the in-text citation: parts of regulations by reg. or regs.; parts of an order by cl. or cls.; parts of rules by r. or rr. At the beginning of a sentence, the part names are spelt out in full (Regulation/Regulations; Clause/Clauses; Rule/Rules).

Speaker, S. (Year, Month Day). Subject details. Volume NZPD Start page. URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Genter, J. A. (2017, August 16). Maritime Amendment Bill—Second reading. 724 NZPD 20323. https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/HansD_20170816_20170816/41c2a9d85130b60857cbb71e30a63405628ec4e3

Joyce, S. (2017, November 9). Address in reply. 725 NZPD 147. https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/HansD_20171109_20171109/a6c59672a4367b1ada003b5c2b8b4e48e7da8293

Peters, W. (1989, December 12). Maori Fisheries Bill—Third reading. 504 NZPD 14632.

Parenthetical citations: (Genter, 2017, p. 20324; Joyce, 2017, pp. 147–149; Peters, 1989)
Narrative citations: Genter (2017, p. 20324), Joyce (2017, pp. 147–149), and Peters (1989)
If the entry in Hansard is long, you may indicate the part of the work with page numbers to help a reader locate the section.

Omit the start page from the reference for recent debates that are not yet incorporated into a print volume or PDF.
NZPD are online only from the 47th Parliament onwards (26 August 2002–present).
The template in The Bluebook and in the New Zealand Law Style Guide cannot work with APA style. The suggested template above adapts the template in the New Zealand Law Style Guide for recent debates as this includes speaker and subject details elements.

Author, A. A. (Date). Title of report. House of Representatives or Agency. URL

Attorney-General. (2014). Report of the Attorney-General under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 on the Electronic Monitoring of Offenders Legislation Bill. House of Representatives. https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/BORA-Electronic-Monitoring-of-Offenders-Legislation-Bill.pdf

Controller and Auditor-General–Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake. (2024, November). Assessing New Zealand’s climate change response with ClimateScanner. Office of the Auditor-General. https://oag.parliament.nz/2024/climatescanner/docs/climatescanner.pdf

Education and Science Committee. (2016, November). Inquiry into the identification and support for students with the significant challenges of dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum disorders in primary and secondary schools. House of Representatives. https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/51DBSCH_SCR71769_1/cd88907f3c87d07b8b1db046417ed1e43fcd3e85

Parenthetical citations: (Attorney-General, 2014; Controller and Auditor-General–Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake, 2024; Education and Science Committee, 2016)
Narrative citations: Attorney-General (2014), Controller and Auditor-General–Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake (2024), and Education and Science Committee (2016)

Reference the individual report if available, as shown above.
It may be necessary to cite the entry in the AJHR volumes, particularly for older reports. In this situation, follow the the APA style for journal articles. For AJHR references, the years are doing double duty as the volume number:

Author, A. A. (Year or years of the volumes). Document title. Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, Year or years of the volumes(Composite volume number), Shoulder number.

Attorney-General. (2014–2017). Report of the Attorney-General under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 on the Electronic Monitoring of Offenders Legislation Bill. Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 2014–2017(8), J.4. https://www.parliament.nz/media/4773/ajhr-vol-7-51st-parliament.pdf

Palmer, G. (1984–1985). A Bill of Rights for New Zealand: A white paper. Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1984–1985(1), A.6.

Parenthetical citations: (Attorney-General, 2014–2017; Palmer, 1984–1985)
Narrative citations: Attorney-General (2014–2017) and Palmer (1984–1985)

Author, A. A. (Year). Title. In The Laws of New Zealand. LexisNexis NZ. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from https://advance.lexis.com

Butler, A. S., & Butler, P. (2024). Human rights. In The Laws of New Zealand. LexisNexis NZ. Retrieved June 15, 2024, from https://advance.lexis.com

Williams, J. (2024). Treaty of Waitangi. In The Laws of New Zealand. LexisNexis NZ. Retrieved June 15, 2024, from https://advance.lexis.com

Parenthetical citations: (Butler & Butler, 2020, para. 61; Williams, 2020, paras. 7–12)
Narrative citations: Butler and Butler (2020, para. 61) and Williams (2020, paras. 7–12)

The Laws of New Zealand is an online encyclopedia.
Use the year of ‘the law is stated as at’ date of the title in the date element of the reference (APA Manual, p. 290, Section 9.15).
The title is the title at the top of the hierarchy in the table of contents (“Human Rights” and “Treaty of Waitangi” in the examples above). The “About this Title” page under each title in the encyclopedia provides the date and author names of that title.
As The Laws of New Zealand is continually updated and older versions are unarchived, a retrieval date is provided (APA Manual, p. 325, Section 33).
Indicate the part of the title cited by using paragraph numbers in the in-text citation. Use para. for a single paragraph and paras. for several paragraphs.

Name of Treaty or Convention, Month Day, Year, URL accessible to all readers OR nothing.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, March 30, 2007, https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20, 1989, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx

Parenthetical citations: (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989; United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2007, art. 24)
Narrative citation: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
Narrative citation with a part within a sentence: … art. 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2007)
Narrative citation with a part at the beginning of a sentence: Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2007) …

Conventions that are the product of an international organisation should either include the organisation’s name as part of the name of the agreement or be preceded by that name (guidance from APA Style Experts [personal communication, February 26, 2020]).
The date is when the treaty was opened for signature or was signed or approved.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840. https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/about/the-treaty/maori-and-english-versions

Treaty of Waitangi 1840. https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/about/the-treaty/maori-and-english-versions

Include the URL of the version you use.

Māori version:
- Parenthetical citation: (Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840)
- Parenthetical citation with a part: (Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840, art. 1)
- Narrative citation: Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840
- Narrative citation with a part within a sentence: … art. 1 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840
- Narrative citation with a part at the beginning of a sentence: Article 1 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840 …
English version:
- Parenthetical citation: (Treaty of Waitangi 1840)
- Parenthetical citation with a part: (Treaty of Waitangi 1840, art. 1)
- Narrative citation: Treaty of Waitangi 1840
- Narrative citation with a part within a sentence: … art. 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840
- Narrative citation with a part at the beginning of a sentence: Article 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840 …

Waitangi Tribunal. (Year). Title of report: Subtitle of report if any (Wai #). Publisher. URL accessible to all readers OR nothing

Waitangi Tribunal. (1991-a). The Ngai Tahu report, 1991: Vol. 1. Summary of grievances, findings and recommendations (Wai 27). Brooker and Friend.

Waitangi Tribunal. (1991-b). The Ngai Tahu report, 1991 (Wai 27; Vol. 2). Brooker and Friend.

Waitangi Tribunal. (2010). The East Coast settlement report (Wai 2190). Legislation Direct. https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68581081/Wai2190.pdf

Omit the Publisher area if the publisher is the Waitangi Tribunal itself.
Waitangi Tribunal (1991-a) has a volume title and this appears in the subtitle of the reference.
Waitangi Tribunal (1991-b) lacks a volume title, so the volume number appears after the Wai number within parentheses.

Parenthetical citations: (Waitangi Tribunal, 1991-a, pp. 3–10, 1991-b, Chapter 3, 2010, pp. 57–58)
Narrative citations: Waitangi Tribunal (1991-a, pp. 3–10, 1991-b, Chapter 3, 2010, pp. 57–58)