Section 57 states that the “English and French versions of this Act the "Constitution Act, 1982" are equally authoritative.” The purpose of this provision is to clear up any ambiguity that might have existed about the equal status of the two versions as a result of the novel way in which this part of Canada's supreme law came into force. Had the "Constitution Act, 1982" been enacted as most preceding amendments to Canada's constitution had been, as a statute of the British parliament, it would, like any other British statute, have been an English-only document. Instead, the British parliament enacted a very concise law (the "Canada Act 1982"), written in English only. The operative clauses of the "Canada Act, 1982" simply state that an appendix to the Act (the appendix is formally referred to as a "schedule") is to be integrated into the Canadian constitution. The schedule contains the complete text of the "Constitution Act, 1982", in both English and French.