Referencing@Portsmouth - Case: EU Human Rights [from Print source using OSCOLA]

Case: EU Human Rights [from Print source using OSCOLA]

Overview
Cases from the European Court of Human Rights are cited either in the official reports (ECHR) or the European
Human Rights Reports (EHRR). The official reports were originally known as Series A, and numbered consecutively.
From 1998 they were renamed Reports of Judgments and Decisions and cited as ECHR). The EHRR series is also
consecutively numbered, but from 2001 case numbers replaced page numbers. In any piece of work use one or
other report series consistently throughout.
Unreported cases must identify the court and date of judgement in place of publication (current information can be
found on the European Court of Human Rights website or in the HUDOC database).
European Commission of Human Rights cases are cited as Decisions and Reports of the Commission series (DR) or
in early years to the Yearbook of the European Commission of Human Rights (Yearbook EComHR).

Standard Form
As a footnote:
1. European Commission of Human Rights pre 1998
Case name (Year) Volume Report series first page.
Report series can be
CD

Collection of Decisions prior to 19742

DR

Decisions and Reports 1974-19981

or you may cite a European Human Rights Report for a decision but insert (Commission Decision) at the end of the
citation.3 If a decision is unreported give the application number and then (Commission Decision, Date)4
2. European Court of Human Rights
Report series can be
Series A
5

Case name Application number (Year) Series A number.

ECHR
Case name Application number ECHR Year, first page.6
EHRR

Case name Application number (Year) Volume EHRR first page.

Unreported cases

Case name Application number (Year) Volume EHRR first page.8

Examples
1. European Commission of Human Rights pre 1998
1

Zamir v UK (1985) 40 DR 42, 43.

or
2

X v Netherlands (1971) 38 CD 9, para 2.

or
3

Council of Civil Service Unions v UK (1987) 10 EHRR 269 (Commission Decision) para 2.

or
4

P v UK App no !3473/87 (Commission Decision, 11 July 1988).

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Referencing@Portsmouth - Case: EU Human Rights [from Print source using OSCOLA]

2. European Court of Human Rights
5

Johnston v Ireland (1986) Series A no 122.

Boyle and Rice v UK (1988) Series A no 131.

Osman v UK ECHR 1998-VIII 3124 para 5.

Whitfield v United Kingdom (2005) 41 EHRR 44, 45.

Omojudi v UK (2010) 51 EHRR 10, 11.

Balogh v Hungary App no 4790/99 (ECtHR, 20 July 2004).

3. Unreported cases
European Commission on Human Rights
4

P v UK App no !3473/87 (Commission Decision, 11 July 1988).

European Court of Human Rights

8

Balogh v Hungary App no 4790/99 (ECtHR, 20 July 2004).

Reference List
List EU Human Rights cases as footnoted in alpha-numeric order under the heading Cases and subdivide Cases into
UK and EU where appropriate. at this point remove italicisation and pinpoint references.
Balogh v Hungary App no 4790/99 (ECtHR, 20 July 2004)
Council of Civil Service Unions v UK (1987) 10 EHRR 269 (Commission Decision)
Johnston v Ireland (1986) Series A no 122
Omojudi v UK (2010) 51 EHRR 10
Osman v UK ECHR 1998-VIII 3124
P v UK app no !3473/87 (Commission Decision, 11 July 1988)
X v Netherlands (1971) 38 CD 9
Zamir v UK (1985) 40 DR 42

Notes
You should reference the law report (i.e. where the case was reported) rather than the Case Analysis
document in Westlaw wherever possible. The Case Analysis doucment is more like an article summary or
abstract, so although you can rely on it for the facts of the case, you should be looking at the law report or
transcript, which contains the judgment, if you want to quote the judge's words.
In text and footnotes citations the "title" of acse or the party names are always printed in italics. If
the footnote details are transferred to a Case List in the Bibliography italicisation should be
removed. all other details of the caee are then shown but the pinpoint reference to the precise
paragraph is omitted.
Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities
(4th edn Oxford University 2010) 13-14.31.
edited LIJ

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