Right-of-way is the set of rules used to determine who is awarded the point when there is a double touch in foil or sabre (ie. both fencers hit each other in the same fencing time). It is detailed in the FIE Rules of Competition, Articles 232-237 (foil) and 416-423 (sabre).

The core assumption behind right-of-way is that a fencing bout is always in one of three states:

• nothing significant is happening
• the fencers are conceiving and executing their actions simultaneously
• one fencer is controlling the action and tempo and the other is trying to gain control.

Since no points will be scored in the first situation, we can ignore it. In the second situation, the fencers' actions have equal significance, and it is impossible to award a touch. Both touches will be annulled and the bout will be resumed where it was stopped.

The third situation is the tricky one. The controlling fencer has the right-of-way, and his hit has precedence over any hit from the other fencer. The job of the referee is to decide which fencer was NOT controlling the action, and annul his touch. If he cannot decide, the referee should abstain, annul BOTH hits, and resume the action where it left off.

Control (and right-of-way) is taken whenever one fencer threatens the other with his blade. A threat can be either an attack (see question 1.15), or a "point in line" (see question 1.17) that is established before the opponent attacks.

Control (and right-of-way) is lost when the threat misses, falls short, is broken off, or is deflected away from the target by a parry or other engagement from the defender. The defender has a split-second window of opportunity to return the attack (ie. riposte) before the attacker recovers; if he does so, he takes over right-of-way and the tables have turned. Otherwise it is a toss-up; the first fencer to initiate an attack will sieze the right-of-way anew.

The right-of-way relationships between common fencing actions are as follows:

• derobement has right-of-way over attacks on the blade
• attacks on the blade have right-of-way over the point in line
• point in line has right-of-way over the attack
• the simple attack has right-of-way over the stop-hit
• the stop-hit has right-of-way over the renewal of the attack
• the stop-hit in time has right-of-way over the compound attack
• the riposte has right-of-way over the renewal of the attack
• the counter-riposte has right-of-way over the renewal of the riposte
• the remise of the attack has right-of-way over the delayed riposte