AGLC4 Rule 8.6: Memoranda of Understanding

An MOU is cited by its italic title, its parties, the word signed and the signing date, the descriptor Memorandum of Understanding in brackets, and a pinpoint. A treaty series citation, if there is one, follows the signing date. If the title already says Memorandum of Understanding, the bracketed descriptor is dropped and the pinpoint is preceded by a comma. A URL may be added to help readers find it.

AGLC4 page 139

Format

Quoted from the Guide, page 139
MOU Title, Parties’ Names, signed Date of Signature (Memorandum of Understanding) Pinpoint.

A boxed element is filled in with the source's details; everything outside a box is written exactly as shown.

Formatting

  • The MOU title is italic and follows rule 8.1.
  • The parties follow rule 8.2: roman, joined by unspaced en dashes, set off by commas, and omitted where the title already names them.
  • The word signed is roman and lower case, followed by the date written day, month in full, year.
  • Where the MOU appears in a treaty series, the series citation follows the signing date after a comma.
  • The descriptor Memorandum of Understanding is roman, capitalised, in round brackets, after a single space with no comma before it.
  • When the descriptor is present the pinpoint follows it after a single space.
  • When the title itself contains the words Memorandum of Understanding, the descriptor is left out and a comma separates the date from the pinpoint.
  • A URL may follow the pinpoint in angle brackets after a single space (rules 4.4 and 4.5), and the citation then ends with a full stop.

Examples

Quoted from the Guide, page 139
  1. 15
    Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Cuba, signed 16 February 2016, s 2 <https://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ata/c/cu/252525.htm>. [Not: … United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Cuba, United States of America–Cuba, 16 February 2016 (Memorandum of Understanding) …]
  2. 16
    Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Nauru and the Commonwealth of Australia, Relating to the Transfer to and Assessment of Persons in Nauru, and Related Issues, signed 29 August 2012.

Not

Quoted from the Guide, page 139
  • [Not: … United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Cuba, United States of America–Cuba, 16 February 2016 (Memorandum of Understanding) …]
    the title already names the parties and already says Memorandum of Understanding, so neither the parties nor the descriptor is added, and the date needs the word signed

Forms in the rule

Quoted from the Guide, page 139
  • ‘MOU’
  • ‘Memorandum of Understanding’

See also

Check your footnotes against these rules

Paste your paper into the free AGLC4 checker and each footnote is graded against the Guide, with the rule it breaks. To write a citation from scratch, use the AGLC4 citation generator.

AGLC4 citation checker AGLC4 citation generator

Formats, examples, passages, tables and the forms marked Not are quoted from the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed, Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2018), with the page of the Guide they appear on. Titles, summaries and explanations are our own.