Foreign Jurisdictions
Citing cases, legislation and constitutional materials from overseas jurisdictions.
AGLC4 Part V covers sources from foreign legal systems. These rules apply when citing overseas cases, legislation, constitutions and parliamentary materials.
The main principle is simple: identify the jurisdiction first, then apply that jurisdiction’s citation rules.
Foreign citations often look familiar because they follow the same basic structure as Australian citations, but each legal system has its own reporting systems and conventions.
How Part V works
AGLC4 gives separate chapters to major foreign jurisdictions. These chapters adapt the general AGLC4 approach to the conventions of each legal system. For example:
- Canada is covered in Chapter 15;
- China is covered in Chapter 16;
- New Zealand is covered in Chapter 21;
- the United Kingdom is covered in Chapter 24; and
- the United States is covered in Chapter 25.
Other jurisdictions are covered in the intervening chapters.
Where a jurisdiction does not have its own chapter, the rules for the closest comparable jurisdiction should be followed consistently throughout the work.
United Kingdom
UK sources use citation methods that reflect the United Kingdom’s historical law report system.
Cases
UK cases are cited according to rule 24.1. The rules cover:
- the use of UK report series;
- the order of citation elements; and
- how judges’ names are included in pinpoints.
Legislation
UK legislation follows a structure similar to Australian Acts. A citation includes the title of the Act, the year, the jurisdiction and any pinpoint. The jurisdiction abbreviation is UK.
Parliamentary materials
UK parliamentary materials are covered by rule 24.4.1 for parliamentary debates and rule 24.4.2 for command papers.
These materials have their own citation formats because they are not cases or legislation.
United States
US citations rely heavily on the American reporter system.
Cases
US cases are cited according to rule 25.1. The citation usually identifies:
- the case name;
- the reporter volume;
- the reporter abbreviation;
- the first page; and
- any pinpoint.
Legislation
US legislation follows rules 25.2 to 25.3. The format depends on whether the material comes from federal legislation or state legislation.
Constitution
The United States Constitution has its own citation format under rule 25.4. Constitutional provisions use amendment numbers and section symbols.
Canada, New Zealand and other jurisdictions
Each covered jurisdiction has its own chapter setting out local citation conventions.
- Canada: rule 15.1 for cases and rules 15.2 to 15.4 for legislation. Canadian citations reflect Canadian report series and legislative conventions.
- New Zealand: rule 21.1 for cases and rule 21.2 for legislation.
- China: Chapter 16.
Foreign jurisdictions in Pincite
When using Pincite, foreign sources include their jurisdiction-specific rules rather than applying Australian citation formats automatically. This means that selecting the correct jurisdiction is an important first step.
- Case → United States
- uses US reporter conventions
- Case → United Kingdom
- uses UK report series conventions
- Legislation → New Zealand
- uses New Zealand legislative conventions
The most common mistake with foreign sources is not a punctuation error. It is applying the wrong jurisdiction’s citation rules. Always identify the legal system first.
Related Index entries
United Kingdom caseUnited Kingdom legislationUnited Kingdom parliamentary debatesUnited Kingdom Command PaperUnited States caseUnited States legislationUnited States ConstitutionNew Zealand caseNew Zealand legislationCanadian caseCanadian legislationForeign case (other jurisdictions)Foreign legislation (other jurisdictions)Last reviewed 4 August 2026