Skip to Main Content

NWU Law House Style Referencing Guide

Based on the NWU Faculty of Law House Style.

Legislation



Legislation

 

EXAMPLE

Footnote
1 Section 1 of the Social Housing Act 16 of 2008. See also s 26(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
2 Sections 1 and 3 of the Social Housing Act 16 of 2008. See also ss 26 and 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Bibliography (under the heading "Legislation")
Social Housing Act 16 of 2008.

(a) Legislation is referenced without the inclusion of "No." (which indicates the number of the Act) and without any punctuation marks, for example: National Water Act 36 of 1998.

(b) The full reference must be provided when legislation is referenced for the first time (either in the text or in a footnote). After the first full reference it may be abbreviated in brackets whereafter only the abbreviated form should be used in all footnotes and in the text, for example National Water Act 36 of 1998 (hereafter the NWA) or (hereafter the Water Act). The abbreviated form must be included in the list of abbreviations.

(c) A footnote is unnecessary if the full citation to an Act is provided in the text.

(d) If only the short title is referred to in the text, provide the number and year in the footnote, for example: Auditing Profession Act8 (in the text) and 26 of 2005 (in the footnote).

(e) If a single act or statute forms the basis of the discussion it can be abbreviated as "the Act", for example: "Section 31(2) of the Provision of Safety Act 10 of 2001 (hereafter the Act) states that … The Act further provides that …"

(f) When a footnote starts with the word "section", then "Section" must be written out (see example above). If, however, the word "section" appears further on in the sentence in a footnote, then "section" is abbreviated to "s" and "sections" to "ss".

(g) The official reference to the South African Constitution is: Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

(h) A reference to the transitional/interim Constitution is: Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 200 of 1993.

Footnote

8 26 of 2005.