Kia ora koutou.
This guide highlights some recommended resources relevant to your Legal executive course.
Note, it's also important to have worked through your course, doing the activities and accessing all the resources within the course.
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Many learners want to find out how to use APA referencing in their Legal Executive assessments. Here's a guide to citing and referencing:
Open Polytechnic. (Year you are studying in). Course code Course title. URL
Note: The URL comes from the overview page.
Reference list example:
Open Polytechnic. (2025). 71110 Introduction to commercial law. https://openpolytechnic.iqualify.com/course/-NpR1bQdGwkWCCtonXAv/
There are two ways to cite the course material in your assignment.
1. At the start of the sentence
e.g. According to Open Polytechnic (2025) .....
2. At the end of the sentence:
e.g. ______________________________________(Open Polytechnic, 2025).
To reference legislation, state the name of the legislation and follow it with the URL from the first page of the legislation.
Reference list example:
Resource Management Act 1991. https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1991/0069/latest/DLM230265.h…
To cite legislation in the body of your assignment, state the name of the legislation as well as the section number and letter.
Intext citation example:
Section 9(1)(a) of the Resource Management Act 1991 states that….
or you can abbreviate section as follows: s 9(1)(a) of the Resource Management Act 1991….
Reference cases in the same way as is stated in the NZ Law Style Guide.
Party v Party [year of case] Court abbreviation case number
Reference list example:
North Shore City Council v Attorney-General [2010] NZSC 125
(Note: use the style of brackets – round or square – that have been used in the reported citation)
When you cite a case in the body of your assignment, state the two parties.
Intext citation example:
In the case of North Shore City Council v Attorney-General…………………
In general, it is better to use your own words rather than quoting but if you do quote, use double quotation marks around the quote and state where the quote comes from.
To find out more about referencing and plagiarism see our APA referencing guide.
Databases
You can also search our other databases to find thousands of resources.
New Zealand Websites
New Zealand Legislation
NZ Acts, Bills and Legislative Instruments
Judicial Decisions Online
Searchable database of NZ judgments and decisions from NZ courts
Courts of New Zealand
Decisions of public interest and case summaries
NZLII Database
Free access to legal information in NZ
New Zealand Parliament
Includes bills and business of parliament
Meet Steph, your friendly Library & Learning Support Liaison.
Get in touch with our Library & Learning Support team for advice on finding resources, academic writing and referencing.