Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
The following guidelines explain how to deal with legal references in running text.
The names of court cases appear in italics in both legal and general writing:
In general writing, titles of legislation appear in roman type (i.e. not in italics):
However, in legal writing and in many Canadian government documents, titles of legislation are placed in italics:
Do not italicize short forms such as "the Act" or "the Charter":
Do not italicize the abbreviation for the title of a piece of legislation, especially when it follows the title written in full. Readers not familiar with the legislation may think that the abbreviation is part of the title.
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau