What is a certificate of compliance?

A certificate of compliance is required by the rules governing appeals. In it, the individual tells the court what the line spacing of the brief is and either that the brief has proportionately spaced typeface, giving the typeface, the point size, and the word count, or that the brief has a monospaced typeface, giving the number of characters per inch and the page count. The certificate does not need to be notarized.