CITATION OF AUTHORITIES. The production of or reference to the text of acts of legislatures, treatises, or cases of similar nature decided by the courts, in order to sup port propositions advanced.
As the knowledge of the law is to a great degree a knowledge of precedents, it follows that there must be necessarily a fzequent refer ence to these preceding decisions to obtain support forpropositions advanced as being statements of what the law is. Constant refer ence to the law as it is enacted is, of course, necessary. References to the works of legal writers are also desirable for elucidation and explanation of doubtful points of law.
In the United States, the laws of the general government are generally cited by their date: as, Act of Sept. 24, 1789, 35; or, Act of 1819, c. 170, 3 Story, U. S. Laws, 1722. The same practice prevails in Pennsylvania, and in most of the other states, when the date of the statute is important. Otherwise, in most of the states, reference is made to the revised code of laws or the official publication of the laws: as, Va. Rev. Code, c. 26; N. Y. Rev. Stat. 4th ed. 400. Books of reports and text books are generally cited by the number of the volume and page; as, 2 Washburn, Real Prop. 350; 4 Penn. St. 60. Sometimes, however, the paragraphs are numbered, and reference is made to the paragraphs: as, Story,. Bailin., 494; Gould, Plead. c. 5, 30.
The civilians on the continent of Europe, in referring to the Institutes, Code, and Pan dects or Digest, usually give the number, not of the book, but of the law, and the first word of the title to which it belongs; and, as there are more than a thousand of these, it is no easy task for one not thoroughly acquainted with those collections to find the place to which reference is made. The American writers generally follow the natural mode of reference, by putting down the name of the collection, and then the number of the back, title, law, and section. For example, Inst. 4. 15. 2. signifies Institutes, book 4, title 15, and section 2; Dig. 41. 9. 1. 3. means Digest, book 41, title 9, law I, section 3; Dig. pro dote, or ff pro dote, signifies section 3, law 1, of the book and title of the Digest or Pan dects entitled pro dote. It is proper to re
mark that Dig. and if are equivalent: the former signifies Digest, and the latter—which is a careless mode of writing the Greek letter 7r, the first letter of the word ravderrar—signi fies Pandects ; and the Digest and Pandects are different names for one and the same thin The Code is cited in the same way. The are cited by their number, with th of the chapter and paragraph: for ex ample, Nov. 185. 2. 4. for Novella , capite 2, paragraph° 4. Novels are also quoted by the Collation, the title, chapter, and paragraph, as follows: In Authentic°, Collation 1, titulo 1, cap. 281. The Authen tics are quoted by their first words, after which is set down the title of the Code under which they are placed: for example, Authea tica, cum testator, Codice ad legem fascidiain. See Mackeldy, Civ. Law, 65; Domat, Civ. Law, Cush. ed. Index.
In view of the diverse and distracting modes of citation adopted by authors (they are generally neither methods nor systems), the editor has been induced to give here the outlines of the system, as well as a list of citations of reports, which he has adopted in the revision of the present edition ol this book. The difficulties in the way of the creation of a system of reference lie in so adjusting it as to meet the needs of the student and the convenience of practitioners, both of which require fulness of citation, and, nt the same time, to secure sueb com pactness as will prevent an undue increase of the sloe of those books in which, from their nature, many citations must he made. If the prinoiples here suggested should be found to be easily remem bered, of convenient and common application, and should come to he generally applied, or if they should suggest a hotter system which may meet with general adoption, a great saving of time and perplexity would be made, much to the relief of those who cannot well spare the time, or who lack the experience, needed in guessing out the meaning of the ingenious contractions whiob conceal the authorities mentioned in the text-hooks, cud thus hinder the use of those books in the respect in which they are mainly useful.