Supreme Court sued over its refusal to translate decisions before 1970 into French
In response, Droits collectifs Québec has taken legal action to compel the Supreme Court to comply with this ruling.
Droits collectifs Québec, a civil rights organization in Quebec, is suing the Supreme Court of Canada’s office of the registrar over the court's refusal to translate its historical decisions into French.
The group filed its application today in Federal Court, arguing that the registrar has not complied with the Official Languages Act.
The lawsuit targets over 6,000 decisions made between 1867 and 1969, prior to the enactment of the Official Languages Act in 1969, which mandates that federal institutions publish content in both English and French.
Although the Supreme Court has been translating its decisions since 1970, it contends that the law does not apply retroactively to decisions made before that year.
In September, the official languages commissioner ruled that while the court may not be required to translate earlier decisions retroactively, any decisions currently published on the court’s website must be accessible in both official languages.
In response, Droits collectifs Québec has taken legal action to compel the Supreme Court to comply with this ruling.
