Legal Citations – Government Document Citations: Non-parliamentary government documents (McGill Guide, 4.2)

Chapter 4 of the McGill Guide provides the proper citation guidelines for a wide variety of government documents from several jurisdictions, including Canada.

As there are several different kinds of government documents, each with their own respective citation formats, it is best to consult the McGill Guide as needed.

The following information is generally required when citing non-parliamentary government documents, such as a report issued by the now defunct Law Reform Commission of Canada:

Jurisdiction,
  • If the jurisdiction appears in another element of the citation, such as in the name of issuing body, then do not include the jurisdiction. The jurisdiction is followed by a comma.
Issuing Body,
  • List the name of the issuing body, unless it appears in the title of the report.
Title,
  • Italicize the title of the report.
(Type of Document)
  • If the type of document is indicated on the title page, provide the information between parentheses.
Tome and/or Volume
  • If the report is published in volumes, indicate the volume number (e.g. vol 3) after the title, abbreviating "volume” to "vol”, followed by a comma.
(Publication Information)
  • In parentheses, indicate the city of publication, followed by a colon, the publisher's name, a comma, the year of publication, and close your parentheses.
Pinpoint
  • If referring to a specific passage, then indicate the chapter (c), paragraph (¶ or para), footnote (n), or page number at which it is found. A pinpoint should always be preceded by "at” and followed by a period.

EXAMPLE:

Jurisdiction, Issuing Body, Title (Type of Document) Volume (Publication Information) Pinpoint.
  Law Reform Commission of Canada, Crimes Against the Foetus (Working Paper 58)   (Ottawa: Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1989).  

Law Reform Commission of Canada, Crimes Against the Foetus (Working Paper 58) (Ottawa: Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1989).