Statute Drafting Conventions
Last revised June 23, 2022

In General

In 1987 the Uniform Law Conference agreed that the Canadian legislative drafting conventions should be bilingual and should reflect the practice of the drafters in both languages.  The Drafting Conventions are the result.



Please see Appendix 1, "Drafting Conventions of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada", in Sullivan and Driedger on the Construction of Statutes, 4th ed., by R. Sullivan (available in Vancouver and regional libraries), p. 613-624.  It includes information on the divisions and arrangement of an act, drafting principles, and language.

In BC

The style of BC legislation is laid out in Legislation Made Easy, 3rd ed., by B.G. Nash (available in Vancouver and regional libraries), c. 4, p.37-40.  It includes information on titles, enacting clauses, marginal notes, parts of sections, and the structure of sections.