order of authorities

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In formal legal writing, the order of authorities refers to the sources which are used to validate claims made by the author of the paper.

The sources should be arranged according to their order of importance, in accordance with Bluebook Rule 1.4. 

Standard Order of Authorities - As Per Bluebook Rule 1.4

Constitutions, in the following order 
  • U.S. Federal Constitution
  • U.S. state constitutions, alphabetically by state
  • Foreign, alphabetically by jurisdiction
  • Foundational documents of the United Nations, League of Nations, and European Union (in that order)
Statutes, in the following order 

Federal

  • Statutes in U.S.C., U.S.C.A., or U.S.C.S. (by U.S.C. title number, from lowest to highest)
  • Statutes currently in force but not in one of the codes above (cite most recently enacted first and continue towards earliest).
  • Rules of evidence and procedure
  • Repealed statutes (cite most recently enacted first and continue towards earliest)

State (alphabetically by state)

  • Statutes in current codification (by codification order)
  • Statutes currently in force but not in current codification (cite most recently enacted first and continue towards the earliest).
  • Rules of evidence and procedure
  • Repealed statutes (cite most recently enacted first and continue towards earliest)
  • Foreign (alphabetically by jurisdiction)
  • Codes or statutes in current codification (by order in codification)
  • Statutes currently in force but not in codes or current codification (cite most recently enacted first and continue towards the earliest).
  • Repealed statutes (cite most recently enacted first and continue towards earliest)

Treaties and other international agreements

  • Cite most recently enacted first and continue towards earliest, except foundational documents of the United Nations
  • League of Nations, and European Union

*See Constitutions above for the foundational documents excluded here.

Cases, in the following order 

Federal

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • Courts of appeals, Emergency Court of Appeals, and Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals
  • Court of Claims, Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and bankruptcy appellate panels
  • District courts, Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, and Court of International Trade (previously the Customs Court)
  • District bankruptcy courts, and Railroad Reorganization Court
  • Court of Federal Claims (previously, trial division of Court of Claims), Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (previously, Court of Military Appeals), and Tax Court (previously, Board of Tax Appeals)
  • Administrative agencies (alphabetically by agency)

State

  • Courts (alphabetically by state; then by rank within each state)
  • Agencies (alphabetically by state; then alphabetically by agency within each state)

Foreign

  • Courts (alphabetically by jurisdiction; then by rank within each jurisdiction)
  • Agencies (alphabetically by jurisdiction; then alphabetically by agency with each jurisdiction)

International

  • International Court of Justice, and Permanent Court of International Justice
  • Other international tribunals and arbitral panels (alphabetically by name)

* Arrange by courts issuing opinions; prior and subsequent history is irrelevant.

** Multiple cases from the same court?  Cite the most recent decision first and continue towards the oldest. 

*** For the rule above, all U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals and federal district courts are treated as one court.

Legislative materials, in the following order
  • Bills and resolutions
  • Committee hearings
  • Reports, documents, and committee prints
  • Floor debates

*  Multiple sources of one type? Cite the most recent first and continue towards the oldest.

Administrative and executive materials, in the following order

Federal

  • Executive Orders
  • Current Treasury Regulations, and proposed Treasury Regulations.
  • All other regulations currently in force (by C.F.R. title number, from lowest to highest)
  • Proposed rules not yet in force (by C.F.R. number as above, if available. If not, then by date of proposal, with the most recent first)
  • All repealed materials (by date of enactment, with the most recent first)

State

  • All state materials alphabetically by state. Within each state, materials currently in force before those repealed. 
    • Within those categories, cite the most recently enacted and continue towards the earliest.

Foreign

  • All foreign materials alphabetically by jurisdiction. 
  • Within each jurisdiction, materials currently in force before those repealed.
  • Within those categories, cite most recently enacted and continue towards earliest.

Intergovernmental organizations' resolutions, decisions, and regulations, in the following order 

  • United Nations and League of Nations. 
    • Within those organizations, by issuing body: General Assembly, then Security
  • Council, then all other bodies in alphabetical order. 
    • Within each body, cite the most recent source first and continue towards the oldest.
  • Other organizations (alphabetically by name).
Records, briefs, and petitions
  • Arrange documents in the order listed. 
  • Within each type of document, arrange by the court where filed; use the order of courts given in Section 4 (Cases) above.
Secondary materials, in the following order
  • Uniform codes, model codes, and restatements (in that order, and with most recent of each type first, continuing towards the oldest).
  • Books, pamphlets, and shorter works in a collection of works by a single author (alphabetically by author's last name; if not available, by first word of title)
  • Journal work not written by students, including forthcoming works and shorter works in a collection of works by multiple authors (alphabetically by author's last name)
  • Book reviews not written by students (alphabetically by reviewer's last name)
  • Student-written material from law reviews and journals, including book reviews (alphabetically by the author's last name; if not available, by the first word of the title; if no title either, by the periodical's name as abbreviated in citation)
  • Annotations (most recent first and continuing towards the oldest)
  • Magazine and newspaper articles (alphabetically by the author's last name; if not available, by the first word of the title)
  • Working papers (alphabetically by author's last name; if not available, by first word of title)
  • Unpublished materials that are not forthcoming (alphabetically by the author's last name; if not available, by the first word of the title
  • Electronic sources, including material from the Internet (alphabetically by the author's last name; if not available, by the first word of the title)

*Whenever alphabetizing, use only the last name of the first author listed; if not available, proceed immediately to the title.

Cross-references to the author's own material
  • If the author of the work being edited refers to their own material in text or footnotes, this citation will take lowest precedence after any given signal.

For more on order of authorities, see this University of Pennsylvania Law Review article and this South Carolina School of Law article. 

See also: Introduction to Basic Legal Citation 

The Bluebook Online: http://www.legalbluebook.com/

[Last updated in July of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]