In view of fairly frequent queries on AskLIVE, etc, the Library’s APA Style page on Legal Resources has been revised and now includes guidance on citing regulations and treaties (including the Treaty of Waitangi) as well as on citing Acts and case law. It is hoped this will enable answering such queries easier in future, particularly for undergraduate students.

Any really curly questions about legal citation should be referred to the Liaison Librarians for law.

The Long Story (for those interested…)
APA’s publication manual details legal referencing in Appendix 7.1, but the appendix is almost entirely about US legal resources. US legal information is structured a bit differently from NZ legal information, and this is reflected in how they are referenced. For example, US reported cases only have the (year) format, whereas NZ cases can have (year) or [year], and there are other subtle differences, such as whether italics are used for case names.

Fortunately, as noted at the beginning of Appendix 7.1, APA’s legal referencing is a variation on the Bluebook, and the Bluebook in turn has a specific section on citing New Zealand legal resources (table T2.29). Even better, the Bluebook referencing for NZ legal resources is very similar to what is now the standard NZ referencing style (NZLSG). The revision of the Library’s APA Legal Resources’ page is in line with these specifications.