Justin Peterson (asker) Oct 28, 2010:

A government-created standing commission This is a commission created by the government to inspect maritime safety (It is not a legislative body). I believe that Plenary Commission is the best option.

AllegroTrans Oct 28, 2010:

The problem is.... We do not have enough context from the Asker to know which "circles" this relates to, do we?

Muriel Vasconcellos Oct 28, 2010:

@Jaime It's only "unnatural" if you don't move in the circles where it's used.

AllegroTrans Oct 28, 2010:

Hey! Wouldn't some context input from the Asker help us? He could at least tell us what sort of commission/committee this is. Why speculate without context?

Jaime Hyland Oct 28, 2010:

As I have already said, "committee of the whole" is entirely unnatural and opaque English (the whole what?). It is a proper name in use in Canada and has a specific technical meaning that it is extremely unlikely to have in this context. Otherwise, it is used with a similar specialised technical meaning and indicating what whole is being referred to. As in the "Committee of the Whole House" in the UK.

Muriel Vasconcellos Oct 28, 2010:

@Jaime Which is precisely why I did not propose 'plenary committee'!! When a committe is empowered to act in the name of the organization of which it is a part, it becomes a 'committee of the whole' - check it out.

Jaime Hyland Oct 28, 2010:

And yet, as an experienced translator with plenty of experience in translating political and quasi-political documents I can assure you that a plenary committee, in most contexts, is an oxymoron.

Muriel Vasconcellos Oct 28, 2010:

@Jaime As a veteran translator for international meetings and organizations, I can say that we have always received strict guidelines on when to use 'committee' and 'commission' in translating "comisión." It is more often 'committee' than 'commission'.

Jaime Hyland Oct 28, 2010:

I have never been under the impression that a commission is necessarily (or even usually) a permanent body. On the contrary, a commission is usually appointed to investigate a particular issue, unless it becomes a standing commission. The equivalent word in Spanish is similar (notwithstanding such bodies as CC.OO.).

Whatever about that, a "plenary committee" is, at best, an inelegant and confusing expression. As for "Committee of the Whole", I can only say that it sounds unnatural and less than transparent in English.

Let's agree to disagree.

Muriel Vasconcellos Oct 28, 2010:

@Jaime re 'commission' Because commissions are an entirely different beast. They are typically permanent bodies of appointed members and their meetings would never be turned into meetings of a larger whole.

Jaime Hyland Oct 28, 2010:

Fair enough. Why use the possibly confusing term "committee" (with its use in contrast to "plenary"), when there are any number of alternatives (my "commission" is just one example). It may indeed by widely used, but I would contend it doesn't need to (and thus shouldn't) be so employed.

Muriel Vasconcellos Oct 28, 2010:

@Jaime re 'committee' I don't agree. I have worked more than 35 years in international meetings, and 'committee' is widely used in contexts of this kind. The text refers to a committee that has been *established* - it is not the description of a session.

Jaime Hyland Oct 28, 2010:

Plenary Commission NOT "committee" (which is usually used in such contexts to contrast with the term "plenary" as in "plenary" Vs. "committee session".