Referencing style

Legal resources

30 September 2023

This referencing guide is for students who studying non-law disciplines. The guidelines are for New Zealand cases, Acts, and regulations. Learn more and find out how to reference legal resources.

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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

Case name (year) or (Case name, year), for example

Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector (1981) or (Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector, 1981)

Bell v. Churton (2019) or (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

(Z v. Dental Complaints Assessment Committee, 2008)

In-text citation: Part of a judgment

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”

For example,

(Baugh v. Sales Tax Collector, 1981 at 241)

Bell v. Churton (2019 at [18]–[20])

(Bell v. Churton, 2019 at [18]–[20])

Kain v. Hutton (2008 at [12])

(Kain v. Hutton, 2008 at [20]–[23])

(Z v. Dental Complaints Assessment Committee, 2008 at [22], [24] and [28])

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

Case name (year) or (Case name, year), for example

Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd (2005) or (Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd, 2005)

In-text citation: Part of a judgment

Follow the guidance under Reported cases, for example

(Burbury v. Apple Commercial Ltd, 2005 at [20]–[26])

Reference list

Title of Act Year Enacted. http:// (if available online), for example

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

In-text citation

Give the name of the Act including the year, for example

... in theory there is a sanctioning regime to deter environmental non-compliance (Resource Management Act 1991).

A part of an Act

If referring to a particular part of an Act, include the part details in the in-text citation only.

Reference list

Title of Act Year Enacted. http:// (if available online), e.g.

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

In-text citation

Section BH1 of the Income Tax Act 2007 states that you may be a tax resident in both New Zealand and another country or territory.
OR
You may be a tax resident in both New Zealand and another country or territory... (Income Tax Act 2007, s. BH1).

Bills

Reference list

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

In-text citation

Give the title of the Bill, the year of introduction, Bill number and bar number, e.g.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill 2018 (106-2) ... OR ... (Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill 2018 (106-2))

A part of a Bill

If referring to a particular part of a Bill, include the part details in the in-text citation only.

Reference list

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

In-text citation

Clause 6 of the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2) ... OR ... (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2), cl. 6).

Clauses 4–6 of the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2) ... OR ... (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2), cls. 4–6).

Explanatory notes and select committee reports

Use this method to cite explanatory notes to and select committee reports on a Bill, e.g.

The explanatory note to the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) ... OR ... (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) (explanatory note))

The select committee report on the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2) ... OR ... (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-2) (select committee report))

To indicate the part of the note or report, use the legal-style method to pinpoint, e.g.

The explanatory note to the Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) (at 2) ... OR ... (Crimes Amendment Bill 2018 (32-1) (explanatory note) at 2)

Draft Bills not introduced into Parliament

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.

Reference list

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/

In-text citations

As draft Bills are arranged in clauses in the same way that introduced Bills are, indicate the part of work in the same way, for example:

Clause 220(1) of Hague (2012) ... OR ... (Hague, 2012, cl. 220(1))

Clauses 78–80 of Ministry of Justice (2020) ... OR ... (Ministry of Justice, 2020, cls. 78–80)

Regulations are cited in a similar way to Acts. Parts of regulations are indicated in the in-text citation by reg. or regs.; parts of an order by cl. or cls.; parts of rules by r. or rr.

Reference list

Name of regulation. http:// (if available online), e.g.

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

In-text citation

... reg. 2(1) of the Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004...

... (Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004, reg. 2(1))

OR at the start of a sentence

Regulation 2(1) of the Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004...

Reference list

Speaker, S. (Year, Month Day). Subject details. Volume NZPD Start page. https:// (if available online)

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.

In-text citations

Genter (2017, p. 20324) ... OR ... (Genter, 2017, p. 20324)

Joyce (2017, pp. 147–149) ... OR ... (Joyce, 2017, pp. 147–149)

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.

Peters (1989) ... OR ... (Peters, 1989)

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.

Reference list

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

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

In-text citation

Attorney-General (2014) … OR … (Attorney-General, 2014)

Education and Science Committee (2016) ... OR ... (Education and Science Committee, 2016)

Reference the individual report if available in APA style, as shown above.

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

Reference list

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.

In-text citations

Attorney-General (2014–2017) … OR … (Attorney-General, 2014–2017)

Palmer (1984–1985) … OR … (Palmer, 1984–1985)

Reference list

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. (2020). Human rights. In The Laws of New Zealand. LexisNexis NZ. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://advance.lexis.com

Williams, J. (2020). Treaty of Waitangi. In The Laws of New Zealand. LexisNexis NZ. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://advance.lexis.com

In-text citation

Butler and Butler (2020, para. 61) … OR … (Butler & Butler, 2020, para. 61)

Williams (2020, paras. 7–12) … OR … (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 the 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.

Reference list

Name of Treaty or Convention, Month Day, Year, https:// (if available online)

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

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.

In-text citation

Name of Treaty or Convention (Year) ... OR ... (Name of Treaty or Convention, Year)

Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2007) ... OR ... (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2007, art. 24)

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) ... OR ... (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989)

Reference list

Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 1840. https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/te-reo-maori-version/

Treaty of Waitangi, 1840. https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/english-version/

Include the URL of the source you use

In-text citation

Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840) ... OR ... (Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 1840)

Treaty of Waitangi (1840) ... OR ... (Treaty of Waitangi, 1840)

Citing a specific article

There are several ways to refer to a specific article, e.g.

Article 1 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840)
Article 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi (1840)
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840, art. 1)...
The Treaty of Waitangi (1840, art. 1)...
... (Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 1840, art. 1)
... (Treaty of Waitangi, 1840, art. 1)

Reference list

Waitangi Tribunal. (Year). Title of report: Subtitle of report if any (Wai #). Publisher. URL accessible to all readers if the electronic version was consulted

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.

In-text citations

Waitangi Tribunal (1991-a, pp. 3–10) ... OR ... (Waitangi Tribunal, 1991-a, pp. 3–10)

Waitangi Tribunal (1991-b, Chapter 3) ... OR ... (Waitangi Tribunal, 1991-a, Chapter 3)

Waitangi Tribunal (2010, pp. 57–58) ... OR ... (Waitangi Tribunal, 2010, pp. 57–58)