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Abbreviations
It is useful to know the editorial rule on abbreviations and acronyms in English, which appears in the United Nations Editorial Manual.
a) To refer to a document within parentheses or in footnotes, the following abbreviations are used. They should never be used within the text or when they are not accompanied by a number or letter:
- article, articles » art., arts.
- capítulo, capítulos »cap., caps.
- figura, figuras » fig., figs.
- number, numbers » no., nos.
- page, pages » page, pp.
- paragraph, paragraphs » para., paras.
- section, sections » sect., sects.
- I take, I take » t.
- volumen, volúmenes »vol., vols.
ATTENTION: The words “Chapter” and “Article” are not abbreviated when referring to the Charter of the United Nations.
b) References to groups of paragraphs or pages are abbreviated as follows:
i) Two consecutive pages:
– p. 17-18
» pp. 17 and 18
ii) Several consecutive pages:
– p. 17-21
» pp. 17 to 21
– et seq.
» et seq. (abbreviation of “and following”)
iii) Several non-consecutive pages:
– p. 17, 19 and 23
» pp. 17, 19 and 23
c) Some abbreviations used in the tables:
– n.a. (not applicable)
» n. a. (no se aplica)
– nfs (non factor services)
» services not attributable to factors
Names of the months:
- , feb., mar., abr., may., jun., jul., ago., sep., oct., nov., dic.
d) The following words are not abbreviated, except in document signatures:
- annexed
- preamble
- document
- resolution
- supplement or part
e) The abbreviation US is used only in the name of the currency when it goes inside a table, for reasons of space: US dollars.
f) The abbreviation v. ('versus'), which in English is used in the titles of causes, cases, issues and court awards, is translated by "c." ('against').
Only “vs.” is used. in the sentences of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, because that is the abbreviation that they use in their official versions in Spanish. More information on the translation of case titles can be found in the Guidelines for the Translation of Legal Texts.
