DEFINITION OF CITATION  It is a reference to legal authorities or

precedents such as statutes, cases, regulations and law review

articles (Martin, 2012).  A reference to legal precedent or
authority, such as case, statute, or treatise, that either
substantiates or contradicts a given position (Black’s Law
Dictionary).

IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL CITATION  It is used in arguments to

courts, legal textbooks, law review articles and the like to
establish or fortify the propositions argued.  Citations to legal
materials follow a standard format which makes it possible for anyone
using a law library to find cited cases, statutes, regulations, and
law review articles. 

The task of "legal citation" in short is to provide sufficient

information to the reader of a brief or memorandum to aid a decision
about which authorities to check as well as in what order to consult
them and to permit efficient and precise retrieval – all of that,
without consuming any more space or creating any more distraction
than is absolutely necessary.

 A reference properly written in "legal citation" strives to do at

least three things, within limited space:  identify the document
and document part to which the writer is referring  provide the
reader with sufficient information to find the document or 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  furnish
important additional information about the referenced material and
its connection to the writer's argument to assist readers in deciding
whether or not to pursue the reference.

TYPES OF CITATION PRINCIPLES 

Full Address Principles 

Principles that specify completeness of the address or

identification of a cited document or document portion in terms that
will allow the reader to retrieve it. TYPES OF CITATION PRINCIPLES 
Other Minimum Content Principles  Principles that call for the
inclusion in a citation of additional information items beyond a
retrieval address – the full name of the author of a journal
article, the year a decision was rendered or a statutory codification
last updated.  Compacting Principles  Principles that reduce the
space taken up by the information items included in a citation. 
Format Principles  Principles about punctuation, typography, order
of items within a citation, and the like.

WHO SETS CITATION NORMS? 

 There is no national citation standard-setting authority.  For
most law writing, the relevant citations norms are set by widely
accepted professional usage.

WHO SETS CITATION NORMS?  Supreme Court and court systems  The
norms set out in national manuals are supplemented or overridden by
court rules  the content, composition, and format of legal
memoranda and briefs.  In the end, most of "legal citation," like
most of any language, is established by evolving usage, reinforced in
some cases, altered in others, by the members of distinct
communities.

BASIC PARTS OF LEGAL CITATION: 1. the name of the case, statute, or

article 2. a statement of where the item can be found in a multi-
volume set of legal materials written as:  volume number name of
publication(or set) page number 3. a date

HOW TO CITE? Following BLUE BOOK on PRIMARY and SECONDARY Sources

( US CONTEXT)

ORDER OF AUTHORITIES

PRIMARY  Constitution  Statutes, treaties and other

international instruments  Cases  Legislative Documents other
than statutes  Administrative or executive documents 
Implementing Rules and Regulations  Court Documents including Rules
of Court  Documents of intergovernmental organizations

ORDER OF AUTHORITIES – SECONDARY  Books, Annotations and

Treatises  Journal Articles  Periodical Articles  Internet
Sources  Interviews  Papers and Theses  Miscellaneous

CONSTITUTION  Current Constitution: {STATE OR COUNTRY} CONST.

{subdivisions} PHIL. CONST. art. VI, § 11, ¶ 2.  Repealed
Constitution: {Year of adoption} {STATE OR COUNTRY} CONST.
{subdivisions} ({year superseded}). 1935 Phil. Const. art. 1, § 1
(superseded 1971).

CODES AND STATUTES  Codes {full title} {SHORT TITLE}, {statute

number, {subdivisions} ({year}). An Act Revising the Penal Code and
Other Penal Law {REVISED PENAL CODE], Act No. 3815, art. 2 (1932). 
Short citation and subsequent citations: {SHORT TITLE},
{subdivisions}.  REVISED PENAL CODE, arts. 171-173.  Id.  Id.
Art. 180, ¶ 2.

 Statutes  An Act Providing for the Recognition and Use of

Electronic Commercial and Non-commercial Transactions and Documents,
Penalties for Unlawful Use Thereof and For Other Purposes [e-Commerce
Act of 2008], Republic Act. No. 8792, § 33 (2000).  Short citation
and subsequent citations:  E-Commerce Act of 2008, §§ 33-34. 
Id.  Id. § 10.

CASES (JUDICIAL DECISIONS)  Supreme Court Decisions  Reported

Cases – General Rule {case name}, {volume number} {Reporter} {first
page}, {cited page} ({year}).  Laurel v. Abrogar, 483 SCRA 243, 245
(2006).  Unreported Cases – Exception {case name}, {G.R. Number}
{Reporter}, {cited page} {date}.  People v. Ramos, G.R. No. 172470,
Apr. 8, 2008.
Short citation and subsequent citations:  Laurel, 483 SCRA at 269.
 Id. at 255.  Id.  People v. Ramos, G.R. No. 172470, Apr. 8,
2008.  Id. Decisions of other Philippine courts {case name},
{volume number} {Reporter} {first page}, {cited page} ({Court}
{year}). People v. Collantes, 37 O.G. 1804, 1805 (Court of Appeals
1926). If unreported, follow the same format as that of the Supreme
Court’s unreported cases. (Exception)

LEGISLATIVE MATERIALS  Bills {title}, {legislature}, {session},

in {publication, if any} {subdivision} ({date}). H.B. 604, 13th
Cong., 2d Sess. (May 12, 2007, in 128 Cong. Rec. S. 7091 (May 19,
2007).
Bills with hearings held {title of hearing, including the bill number
and committee which held the hearing}, {legislature} {page number}
({year of hearing}) ({parenthetical information about person
testifying}). Benefits for U.S. Victims of International Terrorism:
Hearing on S. 1275 Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
108th Cong. 2-5 (2003) (statement of William H. Taft, IV, Legal
Advisor, Dept. of State).
Congressional Reports {title and author, if any} {H.R. or S. to
indicate House of Representatives or Senate} REP. NO. {Number of
Congress}- {Number of Report}, at {page number} ({year}). H.R. REP.
NO. 99-226, at 8 (1985). 
Congressional Journals {volume, if any} {JOURNAL OF CHAMBER OF
CONGRESS} {journal number}, {legislature}, {session} ({date}). 
SENATE JOURNAL 722, 13th Cong. 1st Reg. Sess., Senate Sess. No. 67
(Mar. 7, 2005).  68 JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 14,
13th Cong., 1st Reg. Sess. (May 10-11, 2005).

EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATERIALS {issuing agency}, {title,

if any}, {issuance or series number, if any}, {volume} {official
source, if any} {page or section number} ({date}).  Bureau of
Internal Revenue, Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 37- 93, 89 O.G.
4476 (Aug. 9, 1993).  Bureau of Internal Revenue, Rev. Reg. No. 16,
2005, Effectivity Clause (Sep. 1, 2005).  Office of the President,
Instituting the Presidential Award for Heroism in Times of Disaster,
Executive Order No. 421 (Sep. 7, 1990).  Securities and Exchange
Commission, Code of Corporate Governance, SEC Memorandum Circular No.
2, Series of 2002 (Apr. 5, 2002).