Submission Guidelines

A.  The first page of the manuscript should only contain the title of the paper followed by 200-250 words abstract. The second page should commence with the main body of the manuscript.

B. Submissions should be in Times New Roman, font size 12 with 1.5 line spacing, justified text and 1-inch margins on all sides of the A4 sheet.

C. Footnotes in Times New Roman typeface, font size 10, with 1.0 line spacing. All headings must have uniform formatting.

D. Footnotes should be placed at the end of quotation or sentence. When referring to a specific word or phrase, the footnote number should be placed directly after the word or phrase.

E. Footnotes should conform to 21st Edition of The Bluebook ‘A Uniform System Of Citation’ Rules.

F. Please note that submissions with endnotes will be rejected. For submissions involving empirical research, authors must submit relevant data sets along with the article

G.  All headings must have uniform formatting.

H. Headings: The number of levels of headings should not preferably exceed four and each heading must be numbered.

1.  First Level Heading: The main headings should be centred, emboldened and typed in upper case, symbolized with capital Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.). This format helps to create a clear and consistent structure for the document, as well as to highlight the main topics and subtopics.

E.g., I. INTRODUCTION

2.  Second Level Heading: The headings for the second level should have the first letter of each word in uppercase and be aligned to the left and bolded. Before the heading, there should be a capital letter (A, B, C, etc.).

E.g., A. Legal Scrutiny of the Case Law

3. Third Level Heading: The headings for the third level should have a bold font and align to the left, with only the initial word starting with a capital letter. Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) before the heading text.

E.g., 2. Contours of the judgment

4. Fourth Level Heading: The fourth level headings should be aligned to the left margin and written in italics. Only the initial letter of the first word should be capitalised. The headings should have a lower-case Roman numeral in parentheses before them ((i), (ii), (iii), etc.).

E.g. (i) Reference to a matter in dispute

I. Quotations:

1. For quotations within the text – single quotation mark.

2. For quotations within quotations – double quotation marks. Where the quotation exceeds fifty words, it should be typed as a separate paragraph.

J. Punctuation:

1. For quotations: All punctuation marks, except full stops which are not part of the quoted sentence, must fall within quotation marks.

E.g., ‘All those narratives,’ he said, ‘were based on biased perspectives.’

2. For footnoting: All footnoting numbers must be placed after the punctuation.

E.g., X supports the idea,1 but Y opposes it.2

K. Italicisation:

Please italicise all non-English terms. This rule does not entirely apply to words such as caveat, per annum, per se, prima facie etc., which have been assimilated into English.

L. Use of numbers and figures:

Kindly use Arabic numerals for denoting any number or numerical figure (for example, $ 888 million). Please restrict the use of Roman numerals for denoting Heading Levels only, or any specific article or clause (for example, Article XII of the UNCIRAL Model Law on International commercial Arbitration). When using any pictorial graphs or figures, kindly ensure a clean image having a clear resolution. Please number all figures in the manuscript. While using any graph or data visualisation, kindly add a description specifying the source of the data.

M. Abbreviations and Acronyms

Commonly used abbreviations (UN, EC, EU, US, NATO) need not be expanded on first use. Others should be spelled out initially with the abbreviation in parentheses immediately after, e.g., ‘Supreme Court of India (SCI)’. Avoid abbreviations for terms mentioned only a few times, use the full form.

Acronyms and lettered abbreviations appear without stops. Do not abbreviate ‘article’, ‘resolution’, ‘paragraph’, or ‘declaration’ (except in parentheses or footnotes). Cite paragraph numbers in parentheses, e.g., ‘Article 21(4)(a)’; ‘Article XIV (2)’.

Number spans elide to the shortest pronounceable form: so 123-4 not 123-45 or 456-7 but 456-78.

N.   Dates:

Use the form date - month - year, e.g. 2 November 2010.

For Decades: Always use ‘1990s’, not ‘Nineties’ or ‘90s’. Spell out Centuries.

O.   Capitalisation:

1. Minimize capitalization wherever possible. Generic terms like ‘state’, ‘state parties’, ‘contracting parties’, ‘members’, or ‘treaty’ remain lowercase.

2.     For Courts, Chambers, and Personnels, capitalize specific designations such as ‘Constitutional Bench’ or ‘Division Bench I’, but lowercase generics like ‘constitutional bench’. Capitalize ‘Advocate General’ when denoting the formal office, but not generically. Lowercase ‘defence’, ‘petitioner’, ‘respondent’, ‘judge’, etc.

3.     For Legal Instruments, retain author-preferred capitalization for collective references, such as contracting parties under a specific agreement.

4.     Always capitalize: ‘Article’, ‘Chapter’, and ‘Section’ before numbers (e.g., Article 32, Chapter V, Section 144); also ‘resolution’, ‘treaty’, ‘bill’ for specific instances (e.g., Resolution 161, Treaty VIII, Bill 28).

P.    Abbreviations:

The following abbreviations should always be abbreviated in footnotes:

Annex(es):                           Ann.

Appendix(-ices)                 App.;

Paragraph(s)                       Para.;

Decision(s)                          Dec.; Decs.

Regulation(s)                      Regs.

Resolution(s)                      Res.

Q.    Cross-References:

The first citation of any source must appear in full, following the prescribed citation format. Subsequent references to the same authority or text, including case names, may use a shortened form with ‘supra’ or ‘infra’ as appropriate.

When referring to an author, use only the surname, without initials. If there are two authors, cite both; for three or more, give only the first author’s surname followed by ‘Et al.’. Use ‘note’ or ‘notes’ when cross‑referring to other footnotes in the article.

Do not use page numbers for internal cross‑references, since these change at typesetting; instead, refer to relevant (sub)sections or to text accompanying specific notes. Expressions such as ‘op. cit.’ should be avoided; use only ‘ibid.’ for the same page as the immediately preceding citation, and ‘id.’ for the same source but a different page or paragraph (e.g., id., at p. 8).