General Principles

The aim of a style guide is to ensure maximum consistency among authors, clarity of writing and the ability to locate information easily. The guide includes rules for the citation of a large range of material commonly used in New Zealand, but inevitably there will be occasions where it is necessary to cite materials for which there are no specific rules. Any citations for which there is no relevant rule should be made as consistently as possible with this guide.

In relation to overseas materials not covered in this guide, we would urge users to consult the following comprehensive guides, and to make the relevant changes to make those citations consistent with the format employed in this guide such as the removal of punctuation that is not grammatically necessary:

• For further guidance on the citation of Australian legal sources not contained here, see the latest edition of The Australian Guide to Legal Citation published by the Melbourne University Law Review Association and available at www.law.unimelb.edu.au.
• For further guidance on the citation of United Kingdom sources, see The Oxford Standard Citation of Legal Authorities available at http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/published/oscola.shtml.
• For guidance on citing to Canadian legal sources not covered by this guide, refer to the latest edition of the McGill Law Journal's Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, published by Carswell.
• For guidance on citing to United States legal sources not covered here, see the latest edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review Association.

We have ourselves made use of these guides in preparing this guide, and would like to acknowledge our debt to them. We have also made use of style guides from the New Zealand law schools, and would like to acknowledge those who worked on them.