COMMISSARY, generally, a representative, e.g., the em peror's representative who presided in his absence over the imperial diet ; and especially, an ecclesiastical official who exer cises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop (q.v.) ; in the Church of England this jurisdiction is exercised in a consis tory court (q.v.), except in Canterbury, where the court of the diocesan as opposed to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the arch bishop is called a commissary court, and the judge is the com missary general of the city and diocese of Canterbury. When a see is vacant the jurisdiction is exercised by a "special commis sary" of the metropolitan. Commissary is also a general military term for an official charged with the duties of supply, transport and finance of an army. In the i 7th and 18th centuries the com missaire des guerres, or Kriegskosnmissar was an important official in continental armies, by whose agency the troops, in their relation to the civil inhabitants, were placed upon semi-political control. In French military law, commissaires du gouvernernent represent the ministry of war on military tribunals, and more or less corre spond to the British judge-advocate (see COURT-1VIARTIAL). COMMISSION, the act of committing or entrusting any charge or duty to a person, and the charge or trust thus com mitted, and so particularly an authority, or the document em bodying such authority, given to some person to act in a par ticular capacity. The term is thus applied to the written authority to command troops, which the sovereign or president, as com mander-in-chief of the armed forces, grants to officers, or to the similar authority issued to justices of the peace. For the various commissions of assize see ASSIZE. The word is also used of the order issued to a naval officer to take the command of a ship of war, and when manned, armed and fully equipped for active service she is said to be "put in commission." In the law of evidence (q.v.) the presence of witnesses may, for certain necessary causes, be dispensed with by the order of the court, and the evidence be taken by a commissioner. Such evidence in England is said to be "on commission" (see R.S.C. Order XXXVII.). In the United States such evidence is taken by "deposition." Where the witness is out of the jurisdiction of the court, and his place of residence is a foreign country where objection is taken to the execution of a commission, or is a Brit ish colony or India, "letters of request" for the examination of the witness are issued, addressed to the head of the tribunal in the foreign country, or to the secretary of State for the colonies or for India.
Where the functions of an office are transferred from an in dividual to a body of persons, the body exercising these delegated functions is generally known as a commission and the members as commissioners; thus the office of lord high admiral of Great Britain is administered by a permanent board, the lords of the admiralty. Such a delegation may be also temporary, as where the authority under the great seal to give the royal assent to legis lation is issued to lords commissioners. Similarly bodies of per sons or single individuals may be specially charged with carrying out particular duties; these may be permanent, such as the Char ity Commission or the Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Com mission, or may be temporary, such as international commissions of inquiry (see ARBITRATION; DOGGER BANK), or such as the various commissions of inquiry, royal, statutory or departmental, of which an account is given below.
In the United States there are many commissions in both the Federal and State Governments. The U.S. Interstate Commerce, Federal Trade and Civil Service commissions are examples. Many States have public utilities and civil service commissions. Mu nicipalities also have commissions in many instances.
Internationally, commissions often are appointed to settle claims between different nations on behalf of their subjects, and sometimes to define boundaries, and also for other purposes.
A commission may be granted by one person to another to act as his agent, and particularly in business; thus the term is ap plied to that method of business in which goods are entrusted to an agent for sale, the remuneration being a percentage on the sales. This percentage is known as the "commission," and hence the word is extended to all remuneration which is based on a per centage of the value of the work done. The right of an agent to remuneration in the form of a "commission" is always founded upon an express or implied contract between himself and his prin cipal. Such a contract may be implied from custom or usage, from the conduct of the principal or from the circumstances of the particular case. Such commissions are only payable on trans actions directly resulting from agency and may be payable though the principal acquires no benefit. In order to claim remuneration an agent must be legally qualified to act in the capacity in which he claims remuneration. He cannot recover in respect of unlawful or wagering transactions, or in cases of misconduct or breach of duty.
Commissions of Inquiry, i.e., commissions for the purpose of eliciting information as to the operation of laws, or investigating particular matters, social, educational, etc., are distinguished, ac cording to the terms of their appointment, as royal, statutory and departmental. A royal commission in England is appointed by the Crown, and the commissions usually issue from the office of the executive government which they specially concern. The objects of the inquiry are carefully defined in the warrant constituting the commission, which is termed the "reference." The commis sioners give their services gratuitously, but where they involve any great degree of professional skill compensation is allowed for time and labour. The expenses incurred are provided out of money an nually voted for the purpose. Unless expressly empowered by Act of parliament, a commission cannot compel the production of documents or the giving of evidence, nor can it administer an oath. A commission may hold its sittings in any part of Great Britain, or may institute and conduct experiments for the purpose of testing the utility of invention, etc. When the inquiry or any particular portion of it is concluded, a report is presented to the Crown through the home department. All the commissioners, if unanimous, sign the report, but those who are unable to agree with the majority can record their dissent, and express their in dividual opinions, either in paragraphs appended to the report or in separately signed memoranda.
Statutory commissions are created by Acts of parliament, and, with the exception that they are liable to have their proceedings questioned in parliament, have absolute powers within the limits of their prescribed functions and subject to the provisions of the Act defining the same. By the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, where it has been resolved by both houses of parliament that a tribunal be established for enquiring into a definite matter described in the resolution as of urgent public importance and in pursuance thereof a tribunal is appointed either by the king or a secretary of State, it may be provided that the act shall apply, and in such case the tribunal shall have all the powers, rights and privileges that are vested in the high court, or in Scotland the court of session, for enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, compelling the production of documents, and the issue of commissions or requests to examine witnesses abroad. Departmental commissions or committees are appointed either by a Treasury minute or by the authority of a secretary of State, for the purpose of instituting inquiries into matters of official concern or examining into proposed changes in adminis trative arrangements. They are generally composed of two or more permanent officials of the department concerned in the in vestigation, along with a subordinate member of the administra tion. Reports of such committees are usually regarded as con fidential documents.
In the United States commissions are established through authority of acts of Congress or the State legislatures. Interna tionally they are created by treaties or conventions.
See A. Todd, Parliamentary Government in England, vol. ii.; Charles A. Beard, American Government and Politics.