35 NZLSG 3rd Edition
Melanie Lovich and Theresa Buller
The New Zealand Law Style Guide (NZLSG) is used by “the judiciary, the universities and the profession as the standard way to cite New Zealand law.”[1]
NZLSG is available as a printed book or online through both the New Zealand Law Foundation and the Australasian Legal Information Institute.
NZLSG is New Zealand-centric and differs from styles used in other jurisdictions such as the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC),[2] the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation,[3] the Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities[4] (OSCOLA, used for citing United Kingdom material) and The Bluebook[5] (used for citing material from the United States of America).
Generally, you must follow the rules and format of the rules in NZLSG to cite material in your assignments (and later in the courts), although it can be helpful to consult the style guides of other jurisdictions to understand how material is cited in its originating jurisdiction. This chapter discusses aspects of the NZLSG that commonly attract questions from students of law. The NZLSG is the recognised authority for legal citation in New Zealand.
- Alice Coppard and others New Zealand Law Style Guide (3rd ed, Thomson Reuters, Wellington, 2018) at xiii. ↵
- Melbourne University Law Review and Melbourne Journal of International Law Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed, Melbourne University Law Review Association, Melbourne, 2018). ↵
- McGill Law Journal Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation: Manuel canadien de la référence juridique (9th ed, Thomson Reuters, Toronto, 2018). ↵
- Faculty of Law, University of Oxford OSCOLA: Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (4th ed, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2012). ↵
- Editors of the Colombia Law Review and others The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (22nd ed, Harvard Law Review Association, Cambridge (Mass), 2025). ↵
