Wikipedia:Manual of Style (legal)

From Freepedia

Contents 1 Templates 2 General considerations 3 Article contents 3.1 Broad areas of law 3.2 Writing about particular cases 3.3 Writing about particular concepts 4 Citation

Templates

• Use the Project Law template (when its been created!)
• Use the {{law-stub}} template for law related stubs

For specific areas of law...

• {{Template:ContractLaw}}
• {{Template:TortLaw}}
• {{Template:PropertyLaw}}
• {{Template:CrimLaw}}
• {{Template:EvidenceLaw}}

General considerations

• Wikipedia is not a guide for law students - try wikibooks if you want to write a textbook
• Aim to provide an overview to an international lay audience
• Provide some depth and detail worthy of an encyclopedia
• Use plain language
• Keep in mind that there are several styles of legal system (civil law, sharia law, common law, customary law). No one is more correct, or more worthy of decription than the others.
• Within legal systems there are several isolated instances of legal development. e.g. the differences in law between the common law countries. No one is more correct or more worthy of description than the others.
• Because the law differs between jurisdictions, when starting or making a big contribution to an article, state in the article's discussion page what jurisdiction you are writing about. Try to find out how other similar jurisdictions may differ.

Article contents

Broad areas of law

• Articles about broad areas of law, like Tort, should contain an overview of the law as it stands, its development.
• Avoid becoming overly technical

Writing about particular cases

• Start with a summary why the case is encyclopedic. What is its impact on society, what makes it stand out from all the other cases heard this year?
• Summary in fairly plain language, for a lay audience, possibly followed by a more detailed introduction. For those who do not read the whole decision, this is sufficient for a start.
• The legal details, for those who need to better understand the legal issues involved and how the court arrived at its decision.

Writing about particular concepts

• Provide a framework for the concept. E.g. - Contextualise Detinue as an intentional Tort against property.
• Link to landmark cases which define the concept

Citation

• Case names are italicised, as in the Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation article.
• Statutes are bolded, as in the Statute of Frauds 1677.
• Try to link to cases on Worldlii, Bailii, Austlii [1], or similar free resource (instead of a pay-to-use resource, or internet news articles).