How to cite a law, statute, or regulation (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard)

When to use this format

Use a legal citation system when you are writing for a law course, a legal filing, or any context where a marker expects Bluebook in the US or OSCOLA in the UK. These systems govern how statutes, acts, regulations, and codes are abbreviated and numbered, and they are not interchangeable with the academic styles you use for journal articles.

Use the academic-style patterns below when you cite a statute inside a non-law essay in APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard. Even then, the statute keeps its specialist numbering, the name and year of the act lead the entry, and you point to the official source such as the United States Code, the Federal Register, or legislation.gov.uk rather than a news summary of the law.

What you need before you start

Collect these details from the law, statute, or regulation itself, not from a search result or a reposted copy. Getting the fields right once makes every style format below fall into place.

• Name of the act, statute, or regulation, plus its year.
• The jurisdiction's official numbering, such as a US Code title and section or a UK chapter number.
• The official publication, for example the United States Code or legislation.gov.uk.
• The year of enactment or the version you are citing.
• A URL to the official text when read online.
• The legal system required by your course, such as Bluebook or OSCOLA.

Worked examples in four styles

The same facts appear in every style, but they move around and change punctuation. Match the reference-list entry and the in-text citation to the style your assignment requires.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990). https://www.govinfo.gov/...

United States, Congress. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 42 U.S.C. § 12101, 1990. www.govinfo.gov/...

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-336, 104 Stat. 327 (1990).

Equality Act 2010, c. 15. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15 (Accessed: 15 January 2026).

Judgement calls and edge cases

Jurisdiction decides almost everything in legal citation, so identify the country and the level of law first. A US federal statute, a US state statute, a UK act of Parliament, and an EU regulation each have their own numbering and their own official source. Do not force a UK act into a US Code format or vice versa; copy the numbering exactly from the official text, because legal numbering is the address a court or reader uses to find the law.

Statutes are amended, so the version matters. The text of an act as originally enacted can differ from the consolidated, currently-in-force version. State which version you are citing, and on legislation.gov.uk in particular, note whether you used the original or the latest revised text, because an argument that depends on a repealed or amended subsection is only valid against the right version.

Cite the official source, not a summary. News articles, advocacy pages, and law-firm explainers paraphrase legislation and sometimes get it wrong. The authoritative sources are the United States Code and the Federal Register in the US, and legislation.gov.uk in the UK. When you quote statutory language, quote it from the official text so your citation supports the exact words you rely on.

Common mistakes

• Using an ordinary academic style when the assignment requires Bluebook or OSCOLA.
• Citing a news summary instead of the official statute text.
• Dropping the statutory numbering, which is the law's retrievable address.
• Citing an amended provision against the original-enactment version, or the reverse.
• Mixing US and UK legal citation formats in one reference.