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Harvard has no single rulebook, so the right way of referencing legislation in Harvard depends on the guide your university or department follows. Two patterns are in wide use in library guides: a UK pattern that adds the chapter number and a web address with an access date, and an Australian pattern that puts the jurisdiction in brackets and cites the section. This guide sets the two side by side so you can see why your course guide differs from one you found online, and it covers court cases as well as Acts. The patterns below come from the university guides listed under Sources, checked on 2026-10-29.
Which Harvard guide to follow
Harvard is a family of author-date styles rather than one standard; see citation styles and referencing formats for the wider picture. Library guides from different universities give different layouts for the same Act, and one of the Australian guides cited here (La Trobe University) states that it has been superseded, so confirm which version your course uses before copying a pattern. Two further points from the sources:
- APA 7th has no set standards for legislation and cases and recommends the Bluebook, according to Charles Darwin University (CDU); CDU points to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) for further detail.
- Law courses often prescribe their own legal citation system instead of Harvard. For UK-style Act citations in OSCOLA and APA, see how to cite an Act.
How to cite legislation in Harvard
Give the short title of the Act exactly as it is written, in italics, then follow your guide’s pattern for year, chapter or jurisdiction, and section. The two patterns below come from different institutions’ guides.
UK pattern for an Act of Parliament (UCL)
For an Act passed after 1963, UCL’s Harvard guide asks for the short title with the year and chapter number in italics, the jurisdiction only if you cite legislation from more than one country, the web address after “Available at:”, and the access date in brackets.
- In-text: (Health and Social Care Act 2012)
- Reference list: Health and Social Care Act 2012, c. 7. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/7/contents/enacted (Accessed: 23 August 2012).
For an Act passed before 1963, UCL adds the regnal year, sovereign and chapter in round brackets, then the title of the collection in italics, the year of publication in round brackets, the edition if it is not the first, and the place and publisher.
- In-text: (Act of Supremacy 1534, 26 Hen. 8, c. 1)
- Reference list: Act of Supremacy 1534 (26 Hen. 8, c. 1). The Statutes (1950) 3rd edn. London: HMSO.
Australian pattern for an Act (CDU and La Trobe)
CDU’s template is the name of the Act in italics, the year, then the jurisdiction in brackets. Its in-text example names the section in the sentence.
- Reference list: Business Tenancies (Fair Dealings) Act 2003 (NT)
- In-text: … according to s 35 of the Business Tenancies (Fair Dealings) Act 2003 (NT) …
La Trobe’s older guide uses the same idea with the section after the jurisdiction, for example Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth) s. 4. It also says to give the title exactly as printed with capitalisation unchanged, to write the first reference in full with the title in italics, and to use roman type and drop the year in later references. Foreign Act titles are set in roman rather than italics, and “s.” (section) or “ss.” (sections) should not start a sentence.
How to cite a court case in Harvard
The two Australian guides agree on the case pattern: case name in italics, year in brackets, volume, abbreviated law report series, and the page where the report begins. La Trobe adds that you cite the case as it appears in print even if you read it online, and include the volume if the series has several.
- Pattern: Case name (Year) Volume Report series abbreviation Starting page
- CDU reference: Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479. In text: According to Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479 …
- CDU, with a case number in the name: Mabo v Queensland [No. 2] (1992) 175 CLR 1. The “[No. 2]” stays inside the italics.
- La Trobe: Beasley v Francis (2008) 237 CLR 1
This is the Australian law report pattern. Because Harvard varies by institution, use the case format in your own course guide if it differs; for the shared author-date frame, how to build a Harvard reference list and Harvard in-text citation explain the rest, and how to cite a website in Harvard covers web sources.
A short annotated example
The same kind of Act cited under two guides. Neither is wrong; they answer to different institutions.
| Element | UK pattern (UCL) | Australian pattern (CDU) |
|---|---|---|
| Title of Act | Short title with year, italics | Name of Act with year, italics |
| Chapter number | Included after the title (c. 7) | Not part of the template |
| Jurisdiction | Only if you cite more than one country | Always in brackets, for example (NT) |
| Section | Not covered by the guide | Named in the text, for example s 35 |
| Web address and access date | “Available at:” plus (Accessed: date) | Not part of the template |
Common mistakes
- Mixing patterns: adding a jurisdiction bracket and an “Available at:” line from two different guides in one reference.
- Leaving the title unitalicised, or altering its capitalisation (La Trobe: cite the title exactly as printed).
- Starting a sentence with “s.” or “ss.” (La Trobe).
- Applying the post-1963 pattern to a pre-1963 Act and omitting the regnal year (UCL).
- Putting “[No. 2]” outside the italics in a case name (CDU).
- Assuming APA covers legal sources: CDU notes it does not.
Checklist
- Confirm which Harvard guide, and which version, your course uses.
- If you follow the UCL pattern, check whether the Act is before or after 1963.
- Copy the title exactly as printed, in italics.
- Add chapter, jurisdiction, section or web address and access date as your guide requires, and nothing from another guide.
- For a case, give name, year in brackets, volume, report series abbreviation and starting page.
- Keep one pattern across the whole reference list.
FAQ
How to cite legislation in Harvard?
Put the Act’s title and year in italics and follow your guide for the rest. UCL’s guide adds the chapter number, “Available at:” and an access date; CDU’s adds the jurisdiction in brackets, for example Business Tenancies (Fair Dealings) Act 2003 (NT), and names the section in the sentence.
How to cite a court case in Harvard?
Give the case name in italics, the year in brackets, the volume, the abbreviated law report series and the page where the report starts, for example Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479. Cite it as printed even if you read it online.
Sources
- UCL Library, Harvard referencing guide, Act of Parliament: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/act-parliament (checked 2026-10-29)
- Charles Darwin University Library, CDU Harvard guide, Legislation and cases: https://libguides.cdu.edu.au/CDUHarvard/legislation-cases (checked 2026-10-29)
- La Trobe University Library, Harvard guide, Legal material: https://latrobe.libguides.com/harvard/legalmaterial (checked 2026-10-29; the guide states it has been superseded)
