Template:Court

This template provides a custom, simplified citation scheme for court decisions. Requires {{Reflist}} for citations to work.

Documentation

This template is divided into different categories, depending on the court decision one wants to cite. Consult our style guide for more information on how to use it.

United States

When citing a court decision of the United States, invoke this template with <ref>{{court |jurisdiction=us |court= |plaintiff= |defendant= |url= |cite= |year= }}</ref>.

ESP Wiki follows The Indigo Book, a free content version of The Bluebook, the most widely used legal citation system in the United States.

We wish we could provide better American citations, but this is the best we can do.

Supported courts

Code	Issuing body	Reporter	Reporter abbreviation
SCOTUS	Supreme Court of the United States	United States Reports	U.S.
CAFC	United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Fed. Cir.)	Federal Reporter	F. / F.2d / F.3d / F.4th

Template parameters

Parameter	Description	Type	Status
jurisdiction	Enter "us" to specify the appropriate citation style.	boolean	required
court	The court you want to cite. Use the currently supported court codes from the above table.	boolean	required
plaintiff	The name of the plaintiff as it is mentioned in the case.	string	required
defendant	The name of the defendant as it is mentioned in the case.	string	required
url	A URL that leads to the full text of the case or opinion. Prefer the libre CourtListener of the Free Law Project. If CourtListener doesn't have it, then resort to Justia.	url	required
cite	The citation for the opinion according to The Indigo Book. Use the reporters specified by the above table. Do not cite to other reporters. The citation format is typically [volume] [reporter abbreviation] [first page]. Pincites are optional.	string	required
year	The year of the court decision.	string	required
comment	Any comment you would like to add regarding the opinion, e.g. "Mayer concurring" or "holding that software patents should be abolished".	string	optional

Examples

<ref>{{court |jurisdiction=us |court=SCOTUS |plaintiff=Alice Corp. |defendant=CLS Bank International |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2679558/alice-corp-v-cls-bank-intl/ |cite=573 U.S. 208 |year=2014}}</ref>
<ref>{{court |jurisdiction=us |court=CAFC |plaintiff=Intellectual Ventures I LLC |defendant=Symantec Corp. |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4299187/intellectual-ventures-i-llc-v-symantec-corp/ |cite=838 F.3d 1307 |year=2016}}</ref>

European Union

When citing a supranational court decision of the European Union, invoke this template with <ref>{{court |jurisdiction=eu |plaintiff= |defendant= |case= |celex= |ecli= |paragraph= |date= }}</ref>.

ESP Wiki follows the citation style defined by the European Court of Justice.

Template parameters

Parameter	Description	Type	Status
jurisdiction	Enter "eu" to specify the appropriate citation style.	boolean	required
plaintiff	The name of the plaintiff as it is mentioned in the court decision.	string	required
defendant	The name of the defendant as it is mentioned in the court decision.	string	required
case	The case number of the court decision.	string	required
celex	The CELEX number, the identifier of EUR-Lex documents. This generates the corresponding link of the court decision to EUR-Lex.	string	required
ecli	The ECLI identifier, the identifier of European court decisions. This generates the corresponding links to E-Justice (the portal to European justice) and Curia (the website of the European Court of Justice).	string	required
paragraph	The specific paragraph you want to cite. This generates a link to that specific paragraph.	string	optional
date	The date of the court decision. Use the YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. "2022-03-15". Do not use other date formats.	string	required

Example

<ref>{{court |jurisdiction=eu |plaintiff=Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG |defendant=HARTING Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG and Harting Electric GmbH & Co. KG |case=C‑44/21 |celex=62021CJ0044 |ecli=EU:C:2022:309 |paragraph=13 |date=2022-04-28}}</ref>

United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand

When citing a court decision of the United Kingdom, Australia, or New Zealand, invoke this template with <ref>{{court |jurisdiction=uk/au/nz |plaintiff= |defendant= |court= |year= |number= |paragraph= }}</ref>.

ESP Wiki follows the citation styles as defined by the British and Irish Legal Information Institute, the Australasian Legal Information Institute, and the New Zealand Law Foundation.

Supported courts

Code	Issuing body	Region
EWCA	Court of Appeal of England and Wales	England and Wales
EWHC	High Court of Justice	England and Wales
HCA	High Court of Australia	Australia
FCA	Federal Court of Australia	Australia
NZSC	Supreme Court of New Zealand	New Zealand
NZCA	Court of Appeal of New Zealand	New Zealand

Template parameters

Parameter	Description	Type	Status
jurisdiction	Enter "uk", "au", or "nz" to specify the appropriate citation style.	boolean	required
plaintiff	The name of the plaintiff as it is mentioned in the court decision.	string	required
defendant	The name of the defendant as it is mentioned in the court decision.	string	required
court	The court you want to cite. Use the currently supported court codes from the above table.	boolean	required
year	The year of the court decision.	string	required
number	The sequential judgment number of the court decision.	string	required
paragraph	The specific paragraph you want to cite.	string	optional

Examples

<ref>{{court |jurisdiction=uk |plaintiff=Aerotel Ltd |defendant=Telco Holdings Ltd, Telco Global Distribution Ltd & Telco Global Ltd |court=EWHC |year=2006 |number=997 |paragraph=10}}</ref>
<ref>{{court |jurisdiction=au |plaintiff=Re International Business Machines Corporation |defendant=Patrick Anselm Smith, Commissioner of Patents |court=FCA |year=1991 |number=625 |paragraph=7}}</ref>
<ref>{{court |jurisdiction=nz |plaintiff=Frucor Beverages Ltd |defendant=R T Fyers & Ors |court=NZCA |year=2001 |number=109 |paragraph=15}}</ref>