Citing ECJ/CJEU case law in Chicago (full note, no biblio)

astaver
I am writing a chapter which is supposed to use Chicago style with a full note a no biblio - a style I am not that familiar with. I am citing a bunch of case law from the European Court of Justice, and they are not coming out right at all.

It seems to me like the "case" option in Zotero is adapted to the US legal system?

What I want the citation to look like is this:

Case C-434/09, Shirley McCarthy v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2011] ECR I-0000.

If I put the case number in the title, it all comes out with italics, but if I put the case number in the "Docket number" it doesn't get inluded at all. Also, the year invariably comes after the ECR number (European Court Reports) and in paranthesis rather than in brackets.

Any ideas for how a novice could get this right?
  • adamsmith
    see here - http://citationstylist.org/
    Zotero can't do proper legal citations, most certainly not from different legal systems with different citation rules.
  • fbennett
    @astaver,

    Hi, I'm the maintainer of the CitationStylist/MLZ project that adamsmith links above. The first question would be to ask your deadline for completion of the chapter. There is a functioning Chicago Fullnote style in the MLZ family. The ECJ cite form isn't available in the style yet, but it certainly can (and will) be added, and soon.
  • astaver
    My draft has to be done for July 2, but final draft Aug 10, and it wouldn't really need to be fixed before that.

    Too soon?

    Thanks for responding, much appreciated!
  • fbennett
    You will have to judge whether it makes sense to take the kit for a spin, but I can arrange to add the basic ECJ form to the style by the end of this week. The proofsheets for existing case citation forms are here.
  • astaver
    That's really nice of you!

    Sorry to be a bit dim, but exactly what would I have to do/download?
  • fbennett
    You would need to use the MLZ client, which is experimental and not supported by Zotero.

    The first thing to do would be to back up your data. I've never had a report of lost data with MLZ, but you should protect yourself with a copy of your database and other files.

    Then install the MLZ client, under the Tools menu on http://citationstylist.org/. After that, install the MLZ Chicago style, under the Styles menu of the same site. You can look under the Proofsheets menu for a list of item types with sample input patterns and citation forms.
  • m.jaskowski
    Hello,

    This is an interesting topic! Support fo CJ's cases ould be really useful. I wonder whether it is now possible to use the EU's CJ cite form? If yes, how can I do it? I did install MLZ and Chicago style, selected MLZ Chicgo full note in text processor (Libre Ofice) but I do not really know how to use it since I do not see any difference neither in citation apperance in my documet in comparison to classic Zotero, nor is the input form in Zotero/Firefox any different I think.
  • fbennett
    ECJ is not yet supported, but it will come within the next few weeks. Documentation will be coming along too. I'm on the road at the moment, but will post back to this thread with links when something is ready.
  • m.jaskowski
    Thanks!
  • fbennett
    Actually, it now occurs to me that I don't have any citation samples for the ECJ to work from. Could you post a sample (or several, if there are permutations), and indicate which style it applies to?
  • Oby
    The citation format for ECJ cases is very simple. See these examples: https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/oscola/tutorial/page07.html

    The ECR number = the page number in the European Court Reports. So, if there is no page number given, then drop the ECR number. At minimum an ECJ citation should always provide the following: Case X-96/11 Acme industries v. Commission [2012]

    To provide some context: An AG opinion is presented by a court-appointed legal expert at the closing of the oral proceedings. It is not a judgment, but rather a suggestion for how the case should be solved.
  • fbennett
    @Oby: Thanks for the link -- this is very helpful.

    The MLZ suite has OSCOLA, so I'll be using that as a guideline UK style. I don't have my copy of the Bluebook with me during travel, so I'll need to check that out when I get back. The details will likely be the same, but we'll try to bring it within the Bluebook rules from the start, for that style.

    Thanks for the note of the effect of an AG opinion. We should be able to handle that case with CSL "author", since the name of the court is carried in the separate "authority" variable.
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