Clerical and typographical errors in this Code shall be disregarded when the legislative intent is clear.
Art. 5054.Clerical and Typographical Errors Disregarded
Book IX. Miscellaneous Provisions and Definitions · Title I. Miscellaneous Provisions · Chapter 1. Rules of Construction · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 5054 lets courts disregard clerical and typographical errors in the Code of Civil Procedure whenever the legislature's intent behind the article stays clear despite the mistake.
Full Text of Art. 5054
Plain-English Summary
Statutes drafted, amended, and re-codified over decades accumulate small mistakes: a misplaced word, a wrong cross-reference number, a typo introduced somewhere between the legislature's vote and the final printed text. Article 5054 keeps those minor slips from derailing an article's evident purpose.
The rule is narrow by design. It applies only to clerical and typographical errors, and only where the legislature's intent remains clear despite the mistake. A court does not get to relabel a real substantive gap or an intentional policy choice as a mere typo because the result seems inconvenient; the error has to be the kind of slip that leaves no real doubt about what the article was supposed to say.
This provision works alongside Article 5057, which treats headings, source notes, and cross-references as non-substantive aids rather than part of the law itself. Both articles reflect the same underlying judgment: the Code's substance lives in its considered legislative intent, not in every character that made it into the final printed text.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a typo in the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure change what a rule requires?
No. Article 5054 lets courts disregard clerical and typographical errors when the legislature's intent behind the article remains clear despite the mistake.
Does Article 5054 let a court fix any drafting problem it finds inconvenient?
No. It reaches only clerical and typographical errors where the intended meaning is already clear; it does not authorize rewriting a provision whose substance is uncertain or intentional.
What kind of mistake counts as a clerical or typographical error under Article 5054?
The kind that is evident on its face, such as a misplaced word or an incorrect cross-reference, where the surrounding text makes the legislature's actual intent clear despite the slip.
How does Article 5054 relate to Article 5057's rule on headings and cross-references?
Both articles keep the Code's substance focused on what the legislature intended, rather than on incidental details, whether that is a stray typographical error or a heading that was never meant to carry legal force.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: clerical error Louisiana statuteArticle 5054 Louisianatypographical error Code of Civil Procedurelegislative intent Louisiana civil proceduredisregarding drafting mistakes Louisiana law