HOW TO CITE GUAM LAW
3d Edition
September 2002
Compiled by Sandra E. Cruz, Esq. on behalf of the Superior Court of Guam from The Bluebook:
A Uniform System of Citation (17th ed.) published and distributed by The Harvard Law Review
Association.
Special Thanks to: Charles H. Troutman, III, Compiler of Laws
FOREWORD
The original “How To Cite Guam Law” was prepared in 1990 primarily for the internal use
of the judges and law clerks of the Superior Court of Guam. Using the venerable Harvard Bluebook
as a guide, the idea was to create a “cheat sheet” in order to aid the Superior Court in its drafting of
decisions and orders.
Much has changed since that time. Most notably, the establishment of the Guam Supreme
Court, the codification of statutes into a single Guam Code Annotated, and the advent of the Internet
and other electronic media as a secondary (and sometimes primary) source of statutory and case law
has created new and varied citation formats.
To this end, it must be kept in mind at all times that the purpose of legal citation is to enable
the reader to quickly and accurately locate the intended source. Although great care has been taken
to follow the Bluebook as closely as possible, some liberty was necessarily taken in order to adapt
Bluebook standards to fit local legal usage and practice. Accordingly, in certain situations, the
Guam citations may contain more or different information than what is normally suggested by the
Bluebook or used in other jurisdictions.
The citation formats suggested herein are by no means conclusive. Practitioners with
questions on a certain format are urged to refer to the Harvard Bluebook for further guidance.
Sandra E. Cruz
September 2002
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I.
STATUTORY COMPILATIONS AND PUBLIC LAWS.
(A)
When citing to Guam statutes, always cite to the current codified version of the
statute as printed in the blue volumes of the Guam Code Annotated (GCA). Whenever possible, do
not cite to the older uncodified statutes from the green volumes of the former Guam Civil Code,
Guam Government Code, or Guam Code of Civil Procedure unless necessary to explain the history
of the statute.
COMPILATION
CITATION FORMAT
EXAMPLE CITATION
Guam Code Annotated
x GUAM CODE ANN. § x (20xx)
21 GUAM CODE ANN. § 2120 (2001)
Guam Civil Code
GUAM CIV. CODE § x (19xx)
GUAM CIV. CODE § 3294 (1970)
Guam Government Code
GUAM GOV’T CODE § x (19xx)
GUAM GOV’T CODE § 16000 (1970)
Guam Code of Civil Procedure
GUAM CIV. P. CODE § x (19xx)
GUAM CIV. P. CODE § 1084 (1970)
Source: Bluebook Rule 12.3.1 and Table T.1.
(B)
When citing to the Guam Code Annotated or to Guam legislative session laws in the
text of briefs and legal memoranda, the first mention of the statute within each general discussion
should give a full citation. Subsequent references in the same general discussion may employ a short
form.
FULL CITATION
SHORT CITATION
x GUAM CODE ANN. § xx
x G.C.A. § x
GUAM PUB. L. NO. xx-xx:xx
P.L. No. xx-xx:xx
Source: Bluebook Rule 12.3.1; Table T.1; and Practitioners’ Notes P.4.
(C)
When a public law repeals, reenacts, amends, or adds to an existing statute or section
of the code, cite to the affected section and to the relevant public law.
4 GUAM CODE ANN. § 8219, repealed by Guam Pub. L. No. 26-86:2 (2001)
16 GUAM CODE ANN. § 3341, r/r by Guam Pub. L. No. 26-102:2 (2001)
17 GUAM CODE ANN. §16132, added by Guam Pub. L. No. 26-97:1 (2002)
5 GUAM CODE ANN. § 22205, amended by Guam Pub. L. No. 26-06:2 (2001)
Source: Bluebook Rule 12.3.1; Table T.1; and Practitioners’ Notes P.4(b).
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II.
ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROCEDURAL RULES AND REGULATIONS.
With the exception of the Rules for the Appointment of Counsel for Indigent Defendants and
the Court Reporter Rules, cite current rules in large and small capitals without any date. Use
abbreviations such as the following or abbreviations suggested by the rules themselves:
RULES
EXAMPLE CITATION
2 G.A.R. § 3109(t)(3)
Guam Administrative Rules &
Regulations of the Government of Guam
Guam Rules of Civil Procedure
GUAM R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6)
Local Rules of the Superior Court of
Guam
SUPER. CT. GUAM R. 9
Rules of Appellate Procedure for the
Supreme Court of Guam
SUP. CT. GUAM R. APP. P. 4
Local Rules of the District Court of
Guam
D. GUAM CT. R. 7.1(c)
Rules of the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals
9TH CIR. R. 13
Rules for Expedited Process for the
Superior Court of Guam (Child Support)
SUPER. CT. GUAM EXPEDITED PROCESS R. 54
SUPER. CT. GUAM TRAFFIC CT. R. 10
Traffic Court Rules
Rules for the Superior Court of Guam
Rules Governing Admission of Attorneys
to the Superior Court of Guam
RULES GOVERNING ADMISSION OF
ATTORNEYS TO THE SUPER. CT. GUAM Part
B, § 4
Guam Rules of Professional Conduct
GUAM RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
Rule 1.7
Guam Bar Ethics Committee Rules of
Procedure – Disciplinary Proceedings
GUAM BAR ETHICS COMM. Rule 2
Supreme Court of Guam Rules for the
Discipline of Attorneys
SUP. CT. GUAM R. ATTY. DISCIPLINE Rule 11
APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL FOR INDIGENT
DEFENDANTS Rule VI(B)(1) (1981)
Rules for the Appointment of Counsel for
Indigent Defendants
Court Reporter Rules
COURT REPORTER RULES 10(a) (1981)
Source: Bluebook Rule 12.8.3; Rule 12.8.5; and Rule 12.8.6.
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III.
THE ORGANIC ACT OF GUAM.
The Organic Act of Guam is a federal law that has been amended several times since its
enactment in 1950. A copy of the original Organic Act can be found in Title 1 of the Guam Code
Annotated. In legal memoranda and briefs, however, always cite to the current version of the
Organic Act as found in Title 48 of the United States Code.
48 U.S.C. § 1421b(u).
Source: Bluebook Rule 12.3 and T.1.
IV.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS.
By analogy to the citation for federal executive materials, the Executive Orders of the
Governor of Guam and the advisory opinions of the Attorney General of Guam may be cited as
follows.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Relative to Forming a Task Force on Early Childhood
Education and Development, Exec. Order No. 98-25 (Sept.
22, 1998)
ATTORNEY GENERAL
OPINIONS
Reorganization of the Government of Guam Pursuant to
Public Law No. 225-72, *20, Op. Att’y Gen. No. GOV-991308 (Oct. 19, 1999)
Source: Bluebook Rule 14; Rule 14.4; and 14.7.
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V.
GUAM CASE LAW.
With the exception of a two-volume work last published in 1983, Guam does not have an
official printed case reporter system. Rather, the decisions and opinions of the courts of Guam are
generally available only as separately printed opinions.
Citations to the separately printed opinions should be made by indicating the case number,
the court, the name of the document, and the full date that the decision was filed on. If the citation is
available from an electronic database, the electronic citation should be included as a parallel citation.
Guam cases published in the federal reporter system should be cited appropriately:
COURT
EXAMPLE CITATION
Guam Reports (1955-1980)
People v. Sahagon, 1 Guam R. 360 (Super. Ct.
Guam 1976)
Superior Court of Guam
CIGNA Ins. Co. v. Petrus et. al, Civil Case No.
0813-89, Decision and Order on Motion for
Summary Judgment (Apr. 23, 1990)
Supreme Court of Guam (begins
1996)
Santos v. Carney et. al., 1997 Guam 4; 1997 WL
460435 (Sup. Ct. Guam 1997)
District Court of Guam Appellate
Division (pre-1996)
Guzman v. Tower Development Co., Civil No. 930005A; 1994 WL 549860 (D. Guam App. Div. 1994)
District Court of Guam
(unreported slip opinions)
EIE Guam v. Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan,
Civil Action No. 00-00009, Order Granting EIEG’s
Motion for Continuance (D. Ct. Guam Aug. 2,
2002)
District Court of Guam (reported
and published opinions)
U.S. v. Linson, 88 F.Supp. 1123 (D. Ct. Guam
2000)
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Bunyan v. Camacho, 770 F.2d 773 (9th Cir. 1985)
Supreme Court of the United
States
Gutierrez v. Ada, 528 U.S. 250; 120 S. Ct. 740;
L.Ed.2d 747 (2000)
Source: Bluebook Rule 10; Rule 10.8.1; Table T.1; and Practitioners’ Notes P.3.
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VI.
GUAM BAR ASSOCIATION JOURNAL.
Seth Forman, Recent Legislative Developments in the Federated
States of Micronesia, GUAM B. J., Dry Season 1989, at 9.
Source: Bluebook Rule 16.3; Rule 16.5.6; and Table T.13.
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