Obiter

Obiter is a free, open-source Microsoft Word add-in that implements the full Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th Edition (AGLC4). It covers 80+ source types across all 26 chapters, including international materials and 12 foreign jurisdictions, and handles the position-dependent rules (ibid, short references, cross-references, parallel citations) as you write.

CITATION ENGINE:

- Automatic citation formatting for cases, legislation, journal articles, books, reports, treaties, and 80+ other source types

- Ibid and subsequent reference resolution — automatically determines when to use Ibid, short references (n X), or full citations based on footnote position

- Cross-reference fields that auto-renumber when footnotes are reordered

- Short titles assigned on first citation and used throughout subsequent references

- Linking phrases — quoting, cited in, affirmed by, and other connecting phrases between sources (Rule 1.3)

- Explanatory footnotes — add commentary alongside citations with correct separator formatting

- Live citation preview before insertion

- Click-to-edit citations via content controls

DOCUMENT TOOLS:

- One-click bibliography generation with AGLC4 section headings (A Articles/Books/Reports, B Cases, C Legislation, D Treaties, E Other)

- Document validation against AGLC4 formatting rules with "Go to" navigation for each finding

- Scan and Repair — rebuilds the citation library from an existing document, relinks Obiter citations that have become detached, and adopts plain-text citations found in footnotes, including documents not created with Obiter

- AGLC4 heading styles (5 levels with auto-numbering per Rule 1.12.2)

- AGLC4 document template — margins, fonts, spacing applied in one step

- Quotation formatting tools — auto block quote detection, ellipsis insertion, [sic], editorial brackets, emphasis annotation (Rules 1.5.1-1.5.7)

- Inline body-text formatting — automatic italicisation of case names on subsequent mention, and italics preserved inside titles (eg a case name within an article title)

- Latin and foreign term handling — common legal terms italicised per Rule 1.8.3, with Macquarie-listed terms correctly left in roman

- Searchable reference guide covering all AGLC4 rules, abbreviations, and source types

- Quote from a source — paste a passage from a judgment or load a PDF (text is read in your browser and never uploaded); paragraph markers such as [42] become the pinpoint; three or more lines become an AGLC4 block quote, shorter passages are set in single quotation marks, and the footnote with its pinpoint is placed after the quotation (Rules 1.1.3, 1.5.1, 1.7.1)

CITATION LIBRARY:

- Tags — group sources by matter, chapter or topic, filter the library by tag, and carry tags as keywords when you export

- Find duplicates — one sweep over the library matches records by DOI, ISBN, citation key, medium neutral or report citation, statute title and year, or title, year and author; keep one record, merge the fields you choose, and every footnote follows the survivor

- Record details — see where a citation came from, its identifiers, abstract and notes, links to the source (URL, DOI, AustLII, Jade), cases citing it via LawCite and Jade, and previous versions saved in the document with one-click restore

- Update from source — re-query the online source a citation was found in and merge new or corrected fields side by side

- Cited by — for journal articles with a DOI, see how often and by whom the article is cited (OpenAlex and Crossref) and add a citing work to the library in one step

- Import from RIS, EndNote XML, BibTeX, CSL-JSON and Word's Source Manager with a preview before anything is written; export the library or a selection in any of those formats or as formatted text, so a library moves between Obiter and any reference manager

COURT SUBMISSION MODE:

- 12+ jurisdictional presets — HCA, FCA, NSW, Vic, Qld, WA, SA, Tas, ACT, NT, and more

- Parallel citations — dual MNC + authorised report formatting per court practice directions

- List of Authorities generation — simple, Part A/B, or HCA Joint Book format

- Ibid suppression — replaces ibid with explicit short references for court filings

ADDITIONAL CITATION STANDARDS:

- OSCOLA 5 — Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, EU, ECHR)

- NZLSG 3 — New Zealand Law Style Guide (including Maori Land Court, Waitangi Tribunal, and general/commercial citation styles)

INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN COVERAGE:

- Treaties, UN documents, ICJ, PCIJ, ICC, international arbitration, WTO, GATT, EU, ECHR, and other supranational courts (Chapters 8-14)

- 12 foreign jurisdictions — Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, and others (Chapters 15-26)

AI-ASSISTED CITATION (OPTIONAL):

- Multi-turn AI parser — paste a raw citation and extract structured fields automatically

- Source type classification — describe your source and get a recommendation

- Citation verification — check citation details against known legal databases

- Suggested short titles for first citations

- Summarise or ask about a passage you have loaded into the Quote panel — only the text you loaded is sent, and only after a button that shows the provider and the size of what will be sent

- BYO API key. No data is sent without explicit user action. Works fully without AI enabled.

- Supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Grok, and DeepSeek providers

OTHER:

- Optional Obiter account — keep provider keys in a server-side vault, sync your settings across devices, and have your AI configuration restored when you sign in; multi-factor authentication, data export and account deletion included

- Typeahead search across the Open Australian Legal Corpus, NSW Caselaw, court and Hansard feeds, the Federal Register of Legislation, Crossref, OpenAlex and DOAJ, with links out to AustLII and Jade

- Open Australian Legal Corpus integration (232,000+ entries for offline lookup)

- Dark mode support (respects Word theme)

- WCAG 2.1 AA accessible

- Works offline — no internet connection required for core features

- Error reporting with optional anonymous diagnostics

- AGLC5-ready architecture

WHO IS IT FOR:

Australian law students, legal academics, practitioners, and anyone who needs to cite legal sources according to AGLC4. Particularly useful for thesis writers, journal editors, court practitioners preparing submissions, and researchers working with international and foreign legal materials.

PRIVACY:

Obiter collects no personal data and no document content. When it opens, it sends a single anonymous load count (the app version, your Word version, and your operating system — no identifying information). All citation data remains in your document. Optional AI features require user-provided API keys and only process text that users explicitly select or load and submit. PDFs opened in the Quote panel are read in the browser and never uploaded. Optional error reporting is anonymous and requires explicit user consent. See our full privacy policy at https://obiter.com.au/privacy.html.