Equal_authenticity_rule
Equal authenticity rule
Rule of judicial interpretation developed by Canadian courts
The equal authenticity rule (French: règle d’égale autorité) is a rule of judicial interpretation developed by Canadian courts as a way of interpreting laws written in parallel French and English texts. The constitution of Canada requires that both versions of each bilingual law be treated as equally authoritative, which can result in problems when the English and French versions are incongruent. The equal authenticity rule is derived from section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867, which states that "The Acts of the Parliament of Canada and the Legislature of Quebec shall be printed and published in both those Languages."[1]