Commissioner

For the 1994 film, see Commissioner (film).

A commissioner is, in principle, the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something, the noun's second meaning).

In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to include a variety of senior officials, often sitting on a specific commission. In particular, commissioner frequently refers to senior police or government officials. A High Commissioner is equivalent to an ambassador, originally between the United Kingdom and the Dominions and now between all Commonwealth states, whether Commonwealth realms, republics, or countries having a monarch other than that of the realms. The title is sometimes given to senior officials in the private sector; for instance, many North American sports leagues.

There is some confusion between commissioners and commissaries, because other European languages use the same word for both. Therefore titles such as commissaire in French, Kommissar in German and comisario in Spanish can mean either commissioner or commissary in English, depending on the context.

Domestic public official

A Commissioner within a modern state generally holds his or her office by virtue of a commission from the head of state or a council of elected representatives (or appointed by non-elected officials in the case of dictatorships).

Canadian territories

Commissioners are the formal head of the territories in Canada (those areas under the formal jurisdiction of the federal Crown-in-Council and without separate constitutional status of a province). Unlike the governor general or a lieutenant governor, commissioners are not viceregal representatives of the Canadian monarch; rather, they are delegates of the federal Crown-in-Council and, under federal statutes governing the territories, act in accordance with written instructions from Cabinet or the minister responsible (currently the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development). While commissioners formerly had a direct day-to-day role in administration and government and chaired the territory's executive council, today they are under instruction to act more like provincial lieutenant governors, as territorial assemblies have taken on more responsibility. Commissioners thus perform ceremonial duties similar to those of the monarch and viceroys, including reading the Speech from the Throne at the opening of the territorial legislature and presenting commendations to Canadian Forces members for long-term or outstanding service to the office. Possible candidates for the position are selected by the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments. The official appointment is made by the Governor General-in-Council (the federal government).

Current Canadian commissioners

Symbol of Office	Territory	Current commissioner	Commissioner since
	Northwest Territories	The Honourable George Tuccaro	May 28, 2010
	Nunavut	The Honourable Nellie Kusugak	June 23, 2015
	Yukon	The Honourable Doug Phillips	December 1, 2010

Imperial China

Senior Public Servants, Commissioners and other high-ranking bureaucrats referred to collectively as Mandarins.

Isle of Man

In the local government system of the Isle of Man, a Commissioner is an elected representative equivalent to a Councillor. All town, village, district and parish local government bodies consist of commissioners, with the exception of Douglas, which has a council and councillors.

Malawi

Malawi's position of District Commissioner refers to the person that is appointed by the President of Malawi to oversea the administration of any of its 28 districts. One commissioner is appointed per district. The position was created during the colonial era, sustained during the Kamuzu Banda era and continues as a prominent position in democratic era in Malawi.

Scotland

Main article: Commissioner (Scottish Parliament)

Prior to the Acts of Union 1707, an elected member of the Estates (parliament) of Scotland held the office of Commissioner, representing a constituency (the equivalent of a member of parliament in the contemporaneous Parliament of England). There were Burgh Commissioners and Shire or Stewartry Commissioners.

United States

In many U.S. states, the legislative and executive decision-making bodies of counties are called the board of commissioners or county commission.

In Minnesota, Alaska, New York and Tennessee, the heads of statewide cabinet-level departments are called "commissioners".

In California, Court Commissioners are subordinate judicial officers granted many of the same authorities as Judges, though not all.

Historically, the U.S. government appointed special commissioners for a variety of tasks. For example, the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1862 to 1889 was a commissioner, not a Cabinet secretary.

General

Police

Main article: Police commissioner

In police services in the Commonwealth of Nations and United States, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire police force.

In reference to police forces in other countries, "commissioner" is sometimes incorrectly used to mean a commissary. In many nations (such as Latin American countries, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, etc.) a commissary is typically the commander of a major police station or a locally/regionally important police service. The equivalent ranks in the police forces of the United States and the United Kingdom are respectively captain and superintendent.

Other emergency services

In firefighting services in the Commonwealth of Nations, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire fire service in a particular jurisdiction, such as the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service or the Commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW, two separate fire authorities that operate within the Australian state of New South Wales.

International public and colonial context

British and Commonwealth overseas possessions

The title of Commissioner or District Commissioner, as such, was used by the (gubernatorial) chief British official in:

• British India, now composed of four independent countries (Pakistan, India, Burma and Bangladesh), where the Divisional Commissioner was the head of one of the few Divisions of a province, and was higher than a Deputy Commissioner and lower than a Secretary (now Principal Secretary) in the provincial capital.
• British Central Africa
• Territories of Zambesia and Rhodesia, administered under charter by the British South Africa Company
• the Oil Rivers Protectorate (from 5 June 1885 under a consul-general; soon renamed Niger Coast Protectorate), from 3 August 1891 till 1 January 1900 when it became the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, hence under a High Commissioner
• the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands, 1874 - 4 July 1959, as a dependency under the Governor of Jamaica colony
• the Weihaiwei concession territory (held from China) from 1902 to 1938
• Kamaran Island, in June 1915 taken from the Ottoman Empire and subordinated to the Aden Settlement, but not incorporated, till on 30 November 1967 it became part of the newly independent People's Republic of South Yemen.
• the UN trust territory of British Cameroons, only two incumbents, from 1 October 1954 (the only Special Resident succeeding himself till 1956) to 1 October 1961 when Southern British Cameroons is incorporated into the independent Republic of Cameroon (former French mandate of Cameroun), after the northern part united with Nigeria on 1 June 1961.

The title of Commissioner was also used by the senior diplomatic representatives of Commonwealth countries in British colonies, such as:

• Hong Kong, prior to the handover to the People's Republic of China in 1997, after which they became known as Consuls-General.
• Singapore, prior to independence in 1965, after which they became known as High Commissioners.

Canada

Canada calls its government officials in charge of export promotion "trade commissioners". There are 150 offices of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Canada and abroad, and they "assist with export advice and guidance to help [Canadians] achieve [their] international business goals." The website devoted to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service uses the Internet domain www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca.

European Union

The European Commissioners are the members of the European Commission, the highest executive organ of the European Union, which is the closest EU equivalent to a (confederate) government. Each Commissioner is assigned a portfolio under the authority of the President of the EU Commission, but they make most important decisions collegially, often subject to approval by the European Parliament and/or the Council of the European Union representing the national governments of the member countries.

French colonies

The French equivalent, Commissaire, was used for various officials employed at different levels of the colonial administration in several French-ruled countries.

Russian Empire

After on 17 April 1914 Tannu Tuva (ethnically Mongolian) was declared a Russian 'protected' area (Uryanhay [Urjanhaj] kray), two subsequent Russian Commissioners for the Affairs of Urjanhai Kray (1914 - 1915 A.P. Cererin (Tsererin) and 1915 - 1917 Yu.V. Grigoryev) were appointed, alongside the last native tribal Paramount chief (title Ambyn-noyon), followed by a single Commissar of the Provisional Government (October 1917 - 16 March 1918 Aleksey Aleksandrovich Turchaninov) until czarist rule collapsed for good, giving way to the Soviet regime

United Nations administration

A UN Commissioner appointed in 1949 supervised the transition of the UN Trust territory of Libya (a former Italian colony; actually Tripolitania and Cyrenaica each were under a British Administrator, in 1949 restyled Resident, Fezzan under a French Military Governor, in 1950 also restyled Résident) to independence as a united monarchy in 1951.

United States

From the mid-19th century until 1939, two U.S. Government cabinet departments used the title "commissioner" for officials posted abroad who did not enjoy diplomatic status. U.S. federal agencies have not titled officials posted abroad as commissioners since 1939.

U.S. Department of Agriculture

During the 19th century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began sending employees, called "agricultural commissioners", abroad to investigate foreign agriculture. These appointments were of a roving nature, as the officials were not assigned to a particular country or city. In 1919 USDA posted to London an agricultural commissioner without diplomatic status, Edward Foley, to report on British agriculture. Additional commissioners were posted through the 1920s to Buenos Aires, Berlin, and Shanghai. The title began to be phased out in 1930 with passage of the Foreign Agricultural Service Act, which granted USDA authority to use the diplomatic title "attaché". The last USDA employee to bear the title "agricultural commissioner" was Owen Dawson, agricultural commissioner at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, who received diplomatic status and the title agricultural attaché in 1939 when USDA's overseas officers were transferred to the Department of State.

Noted American author Mark Twain recounted meeting one of the 19th-century roving agricultural commissioners in Innocents Abroad:

I was proud to observe that among our excursionists were three ministers of the gospel, eight doctors, sixteen or eighteen ladies, several military and naval chieftains with sounding titles, an ample crop of "Professors" of various kinds, and a gentleman who had "COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA" thundering after his name in one awful blast! I had carefully prepared myself to take rather a back seat in that ship because of the uncommonly select material that would alone be permitted to pass through the camel's eye of that committee on credentials; I had schooled myself to expect an imposing array of military and naval heroes and to have to set that back seat still further back in consequence of it maybe; but I state frankly that I was all unprepared for this crusher.

I fell under that titular avalanche a torn and blighted thing. I said that if that potentate must go over in our ship, why, I supposed he must -- but that to my thinking, when the United States considered it necessary to send a dignitary of that tonnage across the ocean, it would be in better taste, and safer, to take him apart and cart him over in sections in several ships.

Ah, if I had only known then that he was only a common mortal, and that his mission had nothing more overpowering about it than the collecting of seeds and uncommon yams and extraordinary cabbages and peculiar bullfrogs for that poor, useless, innocent, mildewed old fossil the Smithsonian Institute [sic], I would have felt so much relieved.

U.S. Department of Commerce

Following unification of the U.S. Foreign Service under the Rogers Act in 1924, overseas trade promotion shifted from consuls of the United States to "trade commissioners" employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Most but not all trade commissioners were retitled commercial attachés upon creation of the Foreign Commerce Service (viz.) in 1927. The title "trade commissioner" went out of use in the United States when Commerce's overseas officials were transferred to the Department of State and all three U.S. foreign services (of the Departments of State, Agriculture and Commerce) were merged in 1939 under Reorganization Plan No. II.

Non-public entities

The Salvation Army

In The Salvation Army, the rank of Commissioner is the second-highest attainable rank and the highest rank by appointment, as the rank of General is by election. It is one of the original ranks of the Army and has been in use since 1880, the first Commissioner was George Scott Railton.

Scouting

Within the Scout Movement, a Commissioner is a senior adult leader who is responsible for the management of an aspect of Scouting and/or the leadership of other adults, as opposed to adult leaders who lead youth members.

See also: Commissioner Service

Sports

In many North American sports leagues, including nearly all professional leagues, the commissioner is the highest executive position in the owners association. The exact powers of the commissioner depend on the constitution and/or rules of the league, and are invariably limited by State and Federal Law and collective bargaining agreements. Commissioners are elected by the owners of the league's clubs, and function as Executive Directors of the various owners associations describing themselves as Leagues and handle matters such as discipline, arbitration of disputes between the clubs, etc in the interests of the owners.

The title was first used in 1920, when Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed Commissioner of Baseball in the aftermath of the Black Sox Scandal. Landis was titled "Commissioner" partly to distinguish his office from that of the "President" of the American and National Leagues. Landis' title derived from the National Commission, the ruling body for baseball established in 1903, which were largely autonomous organizations at the time. Eager to restore public confidence in their sport's integrity, baseball owners gave Landis absolute power and a lifetime contract, which permitted the former judge to assume more power over the sport than a commissioner in any sport has held since.

The other major professional sports leagues of North America followed suit, replacing their positions of league president with that of commissioner. The National Football League appointed its first commissioner in 1941, the National Basketball Association in 1967, and the National Hockey League in 1993. However, the commissioners' powers and responsibilities in these leagues are not substantially different from those of the presidents that preceded them. Although baseball's subsequent commissioners have not had the absolute power that Landis did, former Commissioner Bud Selig has succeeded in centralizing authority over Major League Baseball in the commissioner's office, relegating the position of league president to an honorary title and giving baseball's commissioner competencies similar to those of his colleagues in the other major sports.

Many minor professional and amateur leagues throughout the United States and Canada have also appointed commissioners. The title has not caught on outside North America. Current commissioners of the North American major professional leagues are Roger Goodell in the NFL, Rob Manfred in the MLB, Adam Silver in the NBA, Gary Bettman in the NHL, Don Garber in MLS, and Jeffrey Orridge in the CFL.

Compound titles

In many cases, the term Commissioner is part of a more specific title, including English renditions of such titles in other languages. Examples (in some cases there are further compounds) include:

• Assistant Commissioner
• Chief Commissioner
• Civil Commissioner
• Commissioner of Business Services
• Commissioner of Finance
• Commissioner of Legal Services
• Commissioner of Public Lands
• Commissioner of Public Works
• Commissioner-General
• Deputy Commissioner
• District Commissioner
• Divisional Commissioner
• Extraordinary Commissioner
• Federal Commissioner
• Fire Commissioner
• Government Commissioner
• High Commissioner
• Imperial Commissioner
• Insurance Commissioner
• Judicial Commissioner
• Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
• Lord High Commissioner and its further compounds, notably Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland
• Military and Civil Commissioner
• Park Commissioner
• Police Commissioner
• Provincial Commissioner
• Resident Commissioner
• Royal commissioner
• Scout Commissioner
• Special Commissioner
• State Commissioner and Commissioner of State
• Trade Commissioner
• Traveling Commissioner

See also

• Ombudsman
• List of Commissioners of New South Wales Police
• List of Northwest Territories commissioners
• List of Nunavut commissioners
• List of Yukon commissioners

External links

• Official Handbook for Commissioners of the Territories (Canada)
• WorldStatesmen