Centre of Canadian Studies

Description

Canada’s legal system is officially bilingual — but giving equal expression to the common law in both French and English is far from straightforward. This talk explores two interwoven dimensions of this linguistic and legal challenge.

First, it will trace the foundational work carried out by Canada’s jurilinguistic centres — in particular, the Centre de traduction et de terminologie juridiques — to develop a coherent French-language vocabulary for the common law. This process, rooted in linguistic innovation rather than direct translation, has enabled legal education, practice, and judicial reasoning in French across Canada.

Second, the presentation will turn to the judicial interpretation of bilingual statutes and critically examine the so-called Shared Meaning Rule. Drawing on recent case law and doctoral research, it will argue that this approach — which seeks to extract a single meaning from two equally authoritative versions — imposes a rigid framework that often distorts the interpretive process. By elevating surface-level linguistic matches over statutory purpose and legal coherence, it can displace more holistic reasoning and undermine the very goals of modern interpretation.

Together, these two perspectives invite reflection on how bilingual law can be expressed and interpreted not as two parallel texts, but as one legal norm articulated in two voices.

Biographical note

Karine McLaren is Associate Professor and Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Moncton — the only law faculty in the world to offer a common law degree taught exclusively in French. A native French speaker with a background in legal translation and jurilinguistics, she also directs the Centre de traduction et de terminologie juridiques (CTTJ), a federally funded research centre dedicated to developing legal terminology and enhancing access to justice in both official languages.

A former practising solicitor in England, Karine brings to her work a unique perspective at the intersection of law and language. Her doctoral research at Université Laval examines the judicial interpretation of bilingual legislation in Canada and questions whether current interpretive frameworks adequately reflect the country’s commitment to substantive linguistic equality.