IT Law Journal

administrator May 16th, 2004

Legal Citation: Websites as Reference
by Jhonelle S. Estrada

When lawyers argue their case and judges write their opinion, they cite authority. Reference is made to the statutes, regulations and jurisprudence found to be applicable to the given state of facts. Thus, the reader and the writer must master the language of “Legal Citation.”

Definition and purpose

Legal Citation is defined as¹ “a standard that allows one writer to refer to legal authorities with sufficient precision and generality that others can follow the references. A reference properly written in legal citation helps:

1. Identify the document and document part to which the author is referring.
2. Provide the reader with sufficient information to find the document and document part in the sources the reader has available (which may or may not be the same sources as those used by the writer), and
3. Furnish important additional information about the referenced material and its connection to the writer’s argument that a reader trying to decide whether or not to pursue the reference would want to know”

Some students and practitioners find difficulty in citing authorities. Legal Citation is a technical language that should be mastered. Some writers even said that it is easier to read than to write. Two of the most widely used manuals in legal citation is the “BLUBOOK” which is a codification of professional norms that introduced generations of law students to legal citation and the other one is the “ALWD CITATION MANUAL” which is an alternative reference designed for instructional use, prepared by the Association of Legal Writing Directors.

BlueBook and the ALWD Citation Manual

The Bluebook, although used earlier than the ALWD CITATION MANUAL has been much criticized. It was said that it has too many editions and that students control the Bluebook. The Bluebook has been created primarily by law students. Their lack of experience and their being turned over by 100% every few years has contributed to difficulties with the Bluebook.

The members of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) find it frustrating to teach citations found in the Bluebook, prompting members of ALWD formed a committee and chose a person to write a new citation manual, giving birth to the ALWD Citation Manual. “The ALWD Citation Manual is not merely a reference book, but is also a teaching book” It aims to simplify some of the rules in citation, reduce inconsistencies, make rules responsive to the needs of lawyers as well as scholars and to provide stability and uniformity of citation rules.

Websites

The Art of Legal Citation is complicated. Most students find it hard to cite authorities coming from the conventional sources such as books, journals, etc. and now, due to the advancement in Information Technology and with the proliferation of websites, its use as a reference material became a common thing. Thus, here comes the Big Question, HOW DO WE CITE WEBSITES AS OUR REFERENCE MATERIAL? The Bluebook and the ALWD Citation Manual both provided certain examples.

1. BLUEBOOK:
   Federal Judicial Center, Federal Judicial Center Publications (visited July 10, 1999) <http://www.fjc.gov/pubs.html>
2. ALWD CITATION MANUAL: Federal Judicial Center, Federal Judicial Center Publications <http://www.fjc.gov/pubs.html> (accessed July 10, 1999)

The ALWD Citation Manual moved the date to the end to be more consistent with other sources. ALWD uses “accessed” instead of “visited” to give a more professional tone and be consistent with non-legal citation guides

The book “Basic Legal Writing” by Mauricio Ulep provided for different guidelines in citing Internet sources for legal documents.

1. For Periodical Articles

   For Journals available on the web:
   Author(s), ‘title of article,’ volume, Journal title, article Reference (year) <Journal Uniform Resource Locator> [paragraph pinpoint]

   Where an article is published on the web but is not part of the journal:
   Author(s), ‘title of article,’ Homepage Title, relevant Organization, article reference (year), <Uniform Resource Locator> (Copy on file with Author) [paragraph pinpoint]

2. For Cases published in Electronic form:
   Surname of parties, [Court Identifier] G.R. docket number ard date of promulgation (Unreported, ponente) <uniform resource locator> at date file retrieved [pinpoint]
3. For Statutes/Rules published in electronic form:
   State/country, Title of statutes/ rules, date adopted or promulgated by name of authority <uniform resource locator> at date file retrieved (paragraph pinpoint]
4. For E-mail
   Author of e-mail, message. Subject line of the message [online available e-mail: name of recipient @ address.edu. from author @) address.edu.date of message.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Since the use of websites became a common practice nowadays, its use a reference material has its advantages and disadvantages.

The use of websites can help one get all the necessary data easier. One need not go to the library to borrow various books on the subject. It is more accessible. All that a person has to do is log on, on the Internet. It is cheaper because it saves the person money from photocopying books, journals, and cases. Websites are sometimes more updated. It is much easier to revise. Yet, the use of websites as a reference material also has its drawbacks. There are still a range of doubts regarding its validity. There are critics questioning the validity of the resources, since one can write about something and just post it without the approval of the appropriate authority. One cannot even be sure regarding the authenticity of documents found in websites. There is also no certainty regarding the person who made the websites. Any person who has no expertise or is not accredited in that particular field can just give his/her view, and can become an expert all of a sudden. Thus, a person should not entirely base his findings or opinions on documents found in websites. Books are still more accurate because it has the approval of the proper authorities and has undergone various processes before it is published and printed. The reliability of websites can also be questioned, since its contents can be easily changed. A problem may even arise if the websites are not always updated. If a person write a certain document and has no knowledge regarding that certain subject, and he/she relied completely on websites, he/she is not the only one who will be misled by the wrong information but his readers as well. His/Her reader’s outlook might be tainted and they might arrive into erroneous conclusion regarding that certain topic.

Conclusion

The use of websites as a reference material became an ordinary thing, but we should bear in mind, that websites should only be supplement information coming from the conventional sources. We should avoid using it as our sole reference, because it is not a conclusive reference material.

Bibliography

1. Martin, Peter, “Introduction to Basic Legal Citation,” (2003 ed) http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation
2. Schiess, Wayne, “Meet ALWD: The New Citation Manual”, (2002) http://schiess.freeservers.com/alwd.html
3. Jamar, Steven, “A Review of ALWD Citation Manual” Citation System for the Law (2000) http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar/scholarship/alwdciterev.htm
4. UCHastings College of Law, “Legal Writing and Research” (2000-2001). http://uchastings.edu/wr-o1/classes/alwd.manual.htm
5. Ulep, Mariano “Basic Legal Writing.” (2002)

1. Martin, Peter “Introduction to Basic Legal Writing” , (2003 ed) http//www.law.cornell edu/citation [↩]

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