LEGAL CITATIONS

I.

PRIMARY SOURCES
1. COURT DECISIONS
General Format:
<SURNAME of party> v. <SURNAME of
other paty>, <VOLUME>, <TITLE and
PAGE
of
REPORT>,
<(YEAR
OF
PROMULGATION)>
E.g.
Ariaga v. Javellana, 92 Phil. 330 (1952)
*In text, underscore or italicize itle of the
ase name, and place source in footnote.
* If two or more actions are consolidated,
cite only first listed.
CASE REPORTS
Exceptions to General Rule
Islamic and Chinese names:
Wrong: Lim v. Ladislao
Correct: Lim Sian Tek v. Ladislao
Compund names:

Cases involving the Government of

the Philippines and criminal cases
Government v. ___
Commonwealth v. ___
Republic v. ___
U.S. v. ___
People v. ___
In re instead of In the matter of
In re Barretto
Supreme Court
Philippine Report:
<page> (year)

<volume>,

Phil.

E.g. Diaz v. Estrera, 78 Phil. 637 (1947)

Official Gazette: G.R. No. ___, <date
promulgated>, <volume> O.G. page
<Month and year of issue>
E.g. Espiritu v. Rivera, G.R. No. 17092,
September 30, 1963, 62 O.G. 7226 (Oct.
1966).

Wrong: People v. Cruz

Correct: People v. De la Cruz

General Register (Advance decisions

of the SC): G.R. No. ___, <date of
promulgation>

Names of corporations, associations,

business firms and partnerships

E.g. Estepa v. Diansay, G.R. No. 14733,

September 30, 1960

Wrong: Balite v. Jolibee

Correct: Balite v. Jolibee Foods Corp., Inc.

Discipliary cases: G.R. Adm.

No.___, <date of promulgation>

Person is named in his official

capacity- name of the person only

E.g. IIn re Uy, G.R. Adm. Case No. 533,

April 29, 1968.

Wrong: City of Manila v. Subido, in his

capacity as Civil Service Commissioner
Correct: City of Manila v. Subido

COURT OF APPEALS

Complete name of office

Collector of Internal Revenue v. Tan Eng
Municipalities, Cities, Provinces
Province of Rizal v. RTC
City of Cebu v. Ledesma

Case

Appellate Court Reports: Volume C.A.

Rep. <page> (year)
E.g. Chunaco v. Singh, 8 C.A. Rep. 488
(1947).
Court of Appeals Reports, 2nd series:
Volume C.A. Rep. 2d page (year).
E.g. Flores v. Valpena, 2 C.A. Rep. 2d 64
(1962).

LEGAL CITATIONS
CA General Register (advance decisions
of thW CA): C.A.-G.R. No. ___. date of
promulgation

Const.
<Article>,
<Paragraph>
E.g. Const. art. VII, sec.2

E.g. Caliboso v. Bueno, C.A.- G.R. No.

20401-R, April 8, 1960.

*if not in force, put year

E.g. Const. (1935), art. III, sec.1, par. (3).

Official Gazette:

CODES

C.A. No. ___, date of promulgation, volume

O.G. page (month and year of issue)

<Name
of
Code,
<article/section
number>.
E.g. Civil Code, art. 297.
Civil Code (1889), Art. 67.
* When no longer in force, indicate year of
effectivity in parenthesis

E.g. Manila Electtric Co. v. Allarde, C.A.-SP

No. 11850, May 15, 1987, 86 O.G. 3447
(May, 1990).
OTHER COURTS
Sandiganbayan
Sandiganbayan Crim. Case No.___, date of
promulgation, volume Sandiganayan Rep.
pag (year of issue)

BILLS,
RESOLUTIONS,
REPORTS

<section>,

COMMITTEE

CONGRESS
<House where these reports originated>,
<serial report number>, <Congress>,
<session>, <year in parenthesis>

E.g. People v Sabarre, Sandiganbayan

Crim. Case No. 001, December 12, 1979, 1
Sandiganbayan, Rep. 305 (1979).

E.g. S. No. 5, 6th Cong. 1st Sess. (1966)

H. Res. 2, 6th Congress., 3rd Sess. (1966)

CTA

Comm. On National Defense and Security,

H. Rpt. 28, 5th

CTA Case No.___, date of promulgation

E.g. Abad v. Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, CTA Case No. 717, June 4, 1963.

Cong. 1st Sess. (1962).

* For Committee reports, give the name of
committee

RTC

BATASANG PAMBANSA

RTC (Place an Branch No.) Case No. ___,

date of promulgation
E.g. People v. Johnson, RTC
(San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, Br. 45)
Crim. Case R-1681, August 6, 1984).

<Origin of bill>, <bill number>, <number

of the Batasan>, <number of the
session>, <year in parenthesis>

MTC/MCTC
MCTC or MTC (place) Case No.___, date of
promulgation
E.g. People v. Soliven, MCTC (PaoayCurrimao, Ilocos Norte) Crim. Case No.
992-C, November 11, 1983.

E.g. C.B. No. 54, 1st Batasan, 5th Sess.

(1983).
Committee on Civil Service Rpt. 545, 1st
Bataan, 5th Sess. (1983).
*For committee reports, cite name of
committees
TREATIES
AND
INTERNATIONAL
AGREEMENTS
Name of agreement, exact date of
signature by the Phils, source of the treaty

CONSTITUTION

LEGAL CITATIONS
E.g. Treaty of Friendship with India, July 11,
1952 (1953),
II-2 D.F.A.T.S. 1, 2 P.T.S. 797, 203 U.N.T.S.
73.

<Name of municipal or provincial unit>,

<serial number or ordinance>, <date of
adoption>

PRESIDENTIAL ACTS

E.g. Manila Ordinance 6120, Jan. 26, 1967.

Executive Orders: Exec. Order No.___

(year)
Exec. Order No. 329 (1950), 46 O.G. 2035
(July, 1950).

BOOKS & PAMPHLETS

Proclamations: Proc. No.___ (year)

Proc. No. 784 (1961), 57 O.G.
(September, 1961).

<Volume>, <Author first name and

surname>, <title of ook>, <page>,
<section> or <paragraph>, <edition>,
<date in parenthesis>

7122

E.g. I.M. Moran, Comments on The Rules of

Court 195 (6th ed., 1963)

Administrative Orders: Adm. Order No.___

(year)

J. Mertensm The Law of Federal Income

Taxation, Sec. 49. 124 (1965)

Adm Order No. 21 (1966), 62 O.G. 7194

(October, 1966)

*Please use small and large capitals for

formally
printed
works
of
general
circulation

ADMINISTRATIVE
REGULATIONS

RULES

AND

EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Exec. Order No.___ (year)
E.g. Exec. Order No. 329 (1950), 46 O.G.
2035 (July, 1950)
PROCLAMATIONS
Proc. No.___ (year)

COLLECTION
ARTICLES

OF

ESSAYS

AND

All essays or articles by the same

author
E.g. J. Ponce Enrile, The Tax Tratment of
Real Estate Transactions, in 1964 ASPECTS
OF PHILIPPINE TAX LAW 81.
Essays by various authors

E.g. Proc. No. 784 (1961), 57 O.G. 7122

(September, 1961).

E.g. LAUREL, THE CRISIS OF OUR

CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM, in BREAD AND
FREEDOM.

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Adm. Order No. 21 (1966), 62 O.G. 7194

(October, 1966)

<Titles of newspaper are printed in regular

roman and are cited>, <date of issue>,
<page>, <colum>

COURT RULES
<Rules of Court>, <rule number>,
<section>, <paragraph> (year if no
longer in force)
E.g. Rules of Court, Rule 130, sec. 2, par.
(a).
ORDINANCE

E.g. Manila Times, Dec.9,1966, p. 5, col.

A signed article (but not a news
report) is cited by authoer and title.
E.g. Arroyo, 2 months, Behnd the Iron
curtain, Manila Times, December 12,
1966, p.1, col.2

LEGAL CITATIONS

LETTERS, SPEECHES AND INTERVIEWS

LETTER
<name of the letter written and his
correspondent>, <date written>, <include
citation to a printed work, if available>
E.g. Letter of Apolinario Mabni to Emilio
Jacinto, December 17, 1898 in LETTER OF
APOLINARIO MABINI 81 (1965)
*include citation
available

to

printed

work

if

INTERVIEW
<PERSON INTERVIWED>, <designation>,
<place of interview and date>
E.g. Interview with Manuel C. Roura, Chief
of the Polygraph Division, National Bureau
of Investigation, Manila, February 18,
1970.
SPEECHES WITH NO TITLE
<speaker, occasion, place and date>
E.g. Address by Justice Cesar Bengzon, 7 th
Anniversary Celebration of the Bulacan
Bar Association, Manila, November 8,
1952, 2 ATENEO L.J. 307-314 (1953)
*include citation
available

to

printed

work

if

PERIODICALS paginated only within

each issue and cited in regular roman
by date or period of issue
E.g. F Medalla, Judicial
Review and Cautionary Consideration of its
Exercise, NOBA L.J. Sept. 13, 1965
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
JOURNAL ARTICLES ONLY AVAILABLE
IN THE IINTERNET
<Authors,>
<title
of
article>,<volume>,<journaltitle>,
<article reference> (year) <source>
[paragraph]
E.g. Larry Innes, Aboriginal Rights and
Interpretative Responsibility, 4 E. Law
(1997) http://www.myrdoch.edu.au/claw/
ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON WEB BBUT IS
NOT PART OF A JORNAL
<authors>, <title of article>, <homepage
title>, <relevant organization>, <article
reference> (year <uniform resource
locator>
E.g. Vince DiStepano. guidelines for better
writing Available http://usa.net January 9,
1996
REPEATING CITATIONS

PERIODICAL ARTICLES
PERIODICALS
paged
throughout the volume

E.g. E. Abello, Constitutio under the

Commonwealth and under the Republic,
1965 Philconsa YREK

consecutively

<initial of first name, surname>, <title of

article>, <volume>, <name of periodical
in large and small capitals>, <page and
year number in parenthesis>
E.g. J. Luna, International Law Standards
and the Philippines Law o Deportation, 1
PHIL,. NTL,. LJ. 347 (1963)
PERIODICALS
WTH
NO
VOLUME
NUMBER, use year of publication

Supra (above)
To identify a casa or publication previously
cited on the same or preceding page
Not used if more than one page intervenes
between citations
Used when reference to a complete
footnote is made
Always italicized
E.g. Lao Ichong v. Hernandez, supra at 27.
See note 15, supra

Infra (below)
Same rules as supra

LEGAL CITATIONS
Seldom used because one should put full
citations first

Ibid (the same reference)

Reference to a citation is IMEDIATELY
REPEATED with the same volume and age
number

Op. cit. (work cited)

To avoid repeating titles of books
and periodical articles preceded by
authors name and followed by footnote
reference and age number
E.g. V. Sinco, op. cit., note 5 at 133

Always italicized
Not to be used to cite primary sources

Abbreviation of citation

Id.

E.g. International Labour Office, Sharing in

Development: A program of Employment,
Equity and Growth for the Philippines 04
[974 [hereinafter referred o as he Ranis
Report.

Used in citation sentences and clauses for

any kind of authority
In briefs, legal memoranda, and similar
materials, use d. When citing to the
immediately preceding authority
Indicate page if subsequent citation refers
to a different page
Italicized
Do not use to cite primary sources
E.g. V. Sinco Philipine Political Law. 551
(11th ed., 1962)
Id, at 55