Since 2021, there have been disputes over the Supreme Court of Canada’s failure to translate pre-1970 decisions into French. With costs estimated at $10-$20 million, Chief Justice Wagner dismissed the need for complete translations of over 6,000 pre-1970 decisions.
As a result of a ruling by the official languages commissioner that the Court is in breach of the Official Languages Act, the Court agreed to translate “significant” decisions but removed unilingual ones from its website.
Critics question the Court’s decision to selectively translate “significant” cases and emphasize the need for transparency. AI translation is seen as a potential tool, but human oversight is deemed necessary for accuracy.
In a recent CBA National article, Eugene Meehan, K.C. comments on the Court’s proposed solution. Read more about this hot topic here.