The Whitepages provide extensive direction for administrative and executive materials. Administrative agencies and executive institutions produce a wide variety of official materials, and R14, pp. 142-47, gives direction for the most common forms of existing materials.
Also, The Bluebook contains a non-exclusive table of administrative agency and executive materials, which emphasizes citation forms that differ from R14. See T1.2, pp. 230-42.
Importantly, practitioners should comply with an agency's conventions for citation when authoring submissions to that agency, as that convention may vary from the rule established in The Bluebook. Also state materials may be cited by analogy to the federal examples given in R14.
The Bluepages provide a short overview with examples for citation of administrative and executive materials. See B14, p. 22. As noted previously in this guide, a Whitepage Rule may be used to supplement a corresponding Bluepage Rule.
Of course, Illinois practitioners must be wary of citation practices under local rules.
The Bluebook provides a few examples of basic citation forms for administrative and executive materials for academic legal writing. See R14.1, p. 142.
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Federal regulation cited to the |
FTC Credit Practices Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 444.1 (2019). |
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Federal regulations cited to the Federal Register |
Importation of Fruits and Vegetables, 60 Fed. Reg. 50379 (Sept. 29, 1995) (to be codified at & C.F.R. pt. 300). |
|
Administrative adjudication |
Reichhold Chems., Inc. 91 F.T.C. 246 (1978). |
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Arbitration |
Charles P. Ortmeyer, 23 Indus. Arb. 272 (1980) (Stern, Arb.). |
As noted previously, The Bluebook provides citation direction for 36 agencies in T1.2, pp. 230-42. The above administrative adjudication is for a Federal Trade Commission decision, and T1.2, p. 239 provides the relevant citation for such decisions as F.T.C.
Again, the Bluepages generally follow the same formatting conventions. Examples for the Bluepages are provided at B14, p. 22.
Code of Federal Regulations
According to The Bluebook, The preferred resource for citation to federal rules and regulations is the Code of Federal Regulations or C.F.R. The elements of a citation to the C.F.R. include (1) the title number of the C.F.R., (2) the regulation's abbreviate ("C.F.R."), the section symbol (§) and specific section number, and the date of the code edition. For example, 7 C.F.R § 319.76 (2019).
The Bluebook notes that the C.F.R. is revised at least once a year; thus, citation to the most recent edition is preferred. Also, the name of the rule or regulation should be included only if the rule or regulation is commonly cited that way or that information would otherwise be helpful in identification. The abbreviated name of the issuing body may be included if helpful.
The Bluebook provides the following examples for C.F.R. citations:
It must be noted that certain titles of the Code of Federal Regulations, which are focused on specific subjects have unique citations. For example, citation to Title 26, Treasury Regulations, refer to T1.2, pp. 235-36, and Title 48, the Federal Acquisition Regulations, may be cited as "FAR," as explained in R14.2(a), p. 143. The Bluebook provides the following examples for citations to Treasury Regulations and Federal Acquisition Regulations.
Federal Register
The Federal Register (Fed. Reg.) contains publications of rules and regulations before entry into the C.F.R. Citations to the Federal Register should give any commonly used name of the rule or regulation, the volume and page on which the rule or regulation begins, and the date of the rule or regulation. Provide both the page on which the rule or regulation begins and the page(s) on which the cited material appears when citing a part of a rule or regulation. If the Federal Register indicates where the rule or regulation will appear in the Code of Federal Regulations, then present that information parenthetically.
The Bluebook provides the following examples for Federal Register citations:
The Bluebook advises that long titles may be shortened if the result is unambiguous. See R14.2(a), p. 143.
Proposed Rules, Other Notices, and Comments
Administrative notices not moved into the C.F.R. should be cited in the Federal Register. When citing notices of proposed rules and regulations, follow the form for final rules, but add the status to the date parenthetical. R14.2(b), pp.143-44.
The Bluebook provides the following example for a proposed administrative notice citation:
Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles and New Motor Vehicle Engines, 56 Fed. Reg. 9754 (proposed Mar. 7, 1991) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 86).
For other administrative notices, provide a citation by volume, page, and date. The Bluebook advises that the citation may begin with a description or commonly used name, as in the following example.
Meeting Notice, 65 Fed. Reg. 3415 (Jan. 21, 2000).
For rules and announcements that do not appear in the C.F.R. or the Federal Register, provide a citation to a service (R19, pp. 186-88), the original form of issuance, or an agency or governmental website (R18.2.1, p. 176-77). To cite a comment, provide the commenter's name and the relevant proposed rule. A long title may be shortened if the result is unambiguous.
The Bluebook provides the following example for citing an agency or governmental website:
Chamber of Com. of the U.S., Comment Letter on Proposed Rule to Require Registration of Certain Hedge Fund Advisors Under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (Sept. 15, 2004), http://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/s73004/dhirschmann091504.pdf.
Regular Reports
Provide citations in the same manner as periodical materials (see R16, pp. 157-169). Note the use of large and small caps in the examples below. The abbreviated agency name should always be given first, followed by the abbreviations for periodical names in T6 and T13. See generally R14.2(c), p. 144.
The Bluebook illustrates this citation method in the following examples:
Other Publications
Generally, other publications will be cited following the rules related to works by institutional authors, including any serial numbers (see R15.1(c), pp. 148-49 & R15.7, p. 153), unless the work is issued as a congressional document (see R13.4, pp. 138-39). In these situations, note using large and small caps in the related examples in The Bluebook. Conversely, when specifically citing an opinion letter, the work should be cited as an institutional author (in ordinary type), including its publication date and subject matter (if available ). See R14.2(d), p. 144 , for examples of these types of citations.
Generally, citations to administrative cases and arbitrations will conform to the conventions outlined in R10, subject to the following exceptions. See generally R14.3, pp. 144-46.
In an administrative adjudication, the citation should be to the reported name of the first-listed private party (abbreviated according to R10.2, pp. 96-103) or by the official subject-matter title. Significantly, all procedural phrases should be omitted.
In this case, The Bluebook provides an example of how to properly cite an administrative adjudication and two examples of what not to do.
Correct: Trojan Transp., Inc., 249 N.L.R.B. 642 (1980).
Incorrect: In the Matter of Trojan Transp., Inc., 249 N.L.R.B. 642 (1980).
Incorrect: In re Trojan Transp., Inc., 249 N.L.R.B. 642 (1980).
In some cases, it may be necessary to use the subject-matter titles to indicate the nature and stage of an adjudicatory proceeding. Here, it is permissible to shorten these titles. Additional parenthetical information may be necessary if the nature and stage of the proceeding are not clear from the context.
Once again, The Bluebook provides examples of proper citation and improper citation for subject-matter title citations.
Correct: Bottled Green Olives from Spain, 50 Fed. Reg. 28237 (Dep't of Commerce July 11, 1985)
(final admin. review).
Incorrect: Bottled Green Olives from Spain, Final Results of Admin. Review of Countervailing
Duty Order, 50 Fed. Reg. 28237 (Dep't of Commerce July 11, 1985).
For an arbitration, the citation will be in accordance with court cases if adversary parties are named and as administrative adjudications if they are not. Additionally, the arbitrator's name should be included parenthetically.
The Bluebook provides examples of how to cite arbitrations properly:
In subsequent subparts, The Bluebook provides information of which sources to cite (R14.3.2, pp. 145-46) and on the issuing agency (R14.3.3, p. 146).