Languages are dividers as well as uniters. So are jurisdictions. For many commercial documents there is need for international equivalents or translation. So that our international dealings dovetail with our local ones.

It is possible to achieve equivalence by linking texts in different languages or for different jurisdictions and declaring them to have the same meaning. This equivalence can be established definitively (as in the example of ICC Arbitration clauses) or approximately, by experts telling us that the meanings are equivalent (e.g. a CNRS French/English NDA). The equivalence can be aided by declarations that they should be interpreted to have the same meanings (cf. the section entitled “Interprete._Sec”). A choice of arbitration for dispute resolution may reinforce equivalence.

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