Editing Commissary

{{Short description|Someone delegated by a superior to execute a duty or an office}}
{{for|the type of store|Commissary (store)}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
A '''commissary''' is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Commissary|volume=6|page=774}}</ref>

In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often corresponds to the command of a police station, which is then known as a "[[commissariat]]". In some armed forces, commissaries are officials charged with overseeing the purchase and delivery of supplies, and they have powers of administrative and financial oversight. Then, the "[[commissariat]]" is the organization associated with the corps of commissaries. By extension, the term "[[Commissary (store)|commissary]]" came to be used for the building where supplies were disbursed.

In some countries, both roles are used; for example, [[France]] uses "[[police Commissary|police commissaries]]" (''commissaires de police'') in the [[French National Police]] and "armed forces commissaries" (''commissaires des armées'') in the [[French armed forces]].

The equivalent terms are ''commissaire'' in French, ''commissario'' in Italian, ''Kommissar'' in Standard German, ''Kommissär'' in Swiss German and Luxembourgish, ''comisario'' in Spanish, ''commissaris'' in Dutch and Flemish, ''komisario'' in Finnish, ''komisarz'' in Polish and ''comissário'' in Portuguese. In many instances these words may also be the equivalent to [[commissioner]], depending on the context.

==Etymology==
The word is recorded in English since 1362, for "one to whom special duty is entrusted by a higher power". This [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-French]] word derives from Medieval Latin ''commissarius'', from Latin ''commissus'' (pp. of committere) "entrusted".

==Examples==
===Government and administration===
Governmental or administrative structures (or bodies) headed by a commissary (or composed of several commissaries) are often referred to as ''commissary governments'' or ''commissary administrations''. Such terms were often used during the colonial era, and it was also used to designate various ''provisional'' governments of administrations. Executive or administrative body composed of several commissaries is often called ''Council of Commissaries'' or ''Board of Commissaries''. Deputy of a commissary is styled as ''vice-commissary'' or ''sub-commissary''.

In the Soviet Union, commissaries' powers of oversight were used for political purposes. These commissaries are often known as [[commissar]]s in English.

===Police===
A Spanish police Commissary is considered to be equal in rank to a [[commandant]] in the Spanish army.

In the French [[National Police (France)|National Police]], a ''commissaire'' is assigned to a commune with a population of more than 30,000. Larger communes have more than one. Paris has well over one hundred commissaires. All ''commissaires'' are graduates and can fulfill both administrative and investigative roles.

In the [[Romanian Police]], similarly to the French National Police, the rank of ''comisar'' is equivalent to the British police rank of superintendent (''see also [[Romanian Police#Ranks|Romanian police ranks]]'').

===Military===
====British army====
With the establishment of an [[English Army|English]] [[standing army]] following the [[Restoration (1660)|Restoration of the Monarchy]] a '''Commissary General of Musters''' was appointed on 20 December 1660. This officer, with the assistance of four deputies, was responsible for mustering troops by [[regiment]] and checking their names against the [[muster roll]]. These musters took place six or seven times per year (and monthly from 1687). At a muster the total number of officers and men was checked against the roll, each soldier's arms and [[accoutrements]] were inspected and each officer's rank (and record of leave) was checked against their level of pay. Only after the Commissary General had certified the muster roll would the [[Paymaster General of the forces]] issue pay to the regiment. In 1798 the commanding officer of each regiment, together with its regimental Paymaster, took over responsibility for the musters and the Deputy Commissaries were dismissed. The Commissary General continued to oversee a central office of musters until 1817 when the post was abolished and its duties transferred to the [[Secretary at War]].<ref name=Roper1998>{{cite book |last1=Roper |first1=Michael |title=The Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964 |date=1998 |publisher=Public Record Office |location=Kew, Surrey }}</ref>

The appointment of a '''Commissary General of Provisions''' was first made by [[James II of England|James II]] in 1685 to provide for his troops encamped on [[Hounslow Heath]]. As a permanent post the appointment had lapsed by 1694, but a century later it was revived for senior officer of the [[Commissariat#British Army|Commissariat]] (a department of [[HM Treasury]] responsible for the procurement and issue of various stores and victuals to the army and the provision of transport). {{anchor|Commissariat officers}}The Commissariat officers were uniformed civilians, appointed by the Treasury but issued with letters of commission by the [[War Office]];<ref name="Roper1998" /> they were given rank as follows:
* Commissary General (equivalent to a [[Brigadier-general (United Kingdom)|Brigadier General]])
* Deputy Commissary General (equivalent to a [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]] or [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]])
* Assistant Commissary General (equivalent to a [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]])
* Deputy Assistant Commissary General (equivalent to a [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|Lieutenant]])
* Commissary Clerk (equivalent to an [[Ensign (British Army)|Ensign]]).<ref name="Roper1998" />
The department was overseen by a ''Commissary-in-Chief'' from 1809 to 1816, and by a ''Commissary General in Chief'' from 1858 to 1869.

Between 1793 and 1859 ''Assistant Commissary'', ''Commissary'' and (from 1810) ''Chief Commissary'' were (civilian) ranks in the [[Artillery train|Field Train]] Department of the [[Board of Ordnance]] (the [[field force]] element of the Ordnance storekeeping system).<ref name="Sharpe1993">{{cite book |last1=Sharpe |first1=L. C. |title=The Field Train Department of the Board of Ordnance |date=1993 |publisher=Royal Logistic Corps museum}}</ref>

After 1869 ''Commissary'' and associated titles were used as junior officer ranks by the [[Control Department]] (military successor to both the Commissariat and the Ordnance Field Train). A split in 1875 created the [[Commissariat and Transport Department]] and the [[Ordnance Store Department]], which used (respectively) ''Commissary-General'' and ''Commissary-General of Ordnance'' for their senior officers (along with other Commissary ranks down the chain of command). After 1880 officers of the new [[Royal Army Service Corps|Army Service Corps]] were given full military rank, but the [[Army Ordnance Department]] retained ''Commissary of Ordnance'' (and ''Deputy'' and ''Assistant Commissary of Ordnance'') as its junior officer ranks throughout the [[First World War]].<ref>Major General A Forbes 'A History of the Army Ordnance Services' Medici Society, London 1929. Vol II</ref>

===Ecclesiastical===
====Anglican Communion====
The [[Canon law of the Church of England|Canons of the Church of England]], referring to the metropolitical jurisdiction of archbishops and to the ordinary jurisdiction of diocesan bishops, states that: "Such jurisdiction is exercised by the bishop himself, or by a Vicar-General, official, or other commissary to whom authority in that behalf shall have been formally committed by the bishop concerned.".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canons C 17.3 and C 18.3 |title=Section C: Ministers, their ordination, functions and charge |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/more/policy-and-thinking/canons-church-england/section-c |website=Canons of the Church of England |publisher=The Church of England |access-date=12 December 2018}}</ref>

In previous centuries Bishops sometimes appointed representatives, called commissaries, to perform functions in distant portions of their dioceses. In 1684 [[Henry Compton (bishop)|Henry Compton]], the Bishop of London, resolved to use the commissary system to provide leadership for churches in the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prichard |first1=Robert |title=A History of the Episcopal Church |date=1991|publisher=Morehouse Publishing |location=Harrison PA}}, reprinted in 2014</ref> ([[James Blair (Virginia)|James Blair]] was an early such commissary). Commissaries were appointed to some, but not all, of the thirteen colonies into the second half of the eighteenth century. Later, commissaries were sometimes appointed for other parts of the [[British Empire]]. The practice continues in respect of the [[Channel Islands]] which, although attached to the English [[diocese of Salisbury]], are separate legal jurisdictions with their own [[canon law]]; the Deans of [[Dean of Jersey|Jersey]] and [[Dean of Guernsey|Guernsey]] are the Bishop's Commissaries in their respective Islands.<ref>Numerous references to the Dean as the Bishop's Commissary are in the {{cite web|title=Canons of the Church of England in Jersey|url=https://www.jerseylaw.je/laws/enacted/Pages/L-33-2022.aspx |website=Jersey Law |access-date=20 April 2025 |date=19 July 2022}} - for example, canons B2(b), B29.3 and C9.3</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Rules & Regulations|url=http://www.churchofengland.org.gg/rules-regulations|website=Deanery of Guernsey|access-date=20 April 2024|language=en}}</ref>

In 2011 the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] appointed commissaries to conduct a [[Canonical visitation|visitation]] upon the [[Diocese of Chichester]] with regard to safeguarding failures in the diocese over many years. According to their interim report: "Our appointment by the Archbishop of Canterbury — the first such appointment of Commissaries for over 100 years — is evidence of the deep concern held in the Church of England for this diocese and its failure properly to protect children in its care".<ref>{{cite web |title=INTERIM REPORT OF THE COMMISSARIES APPOINTED BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY IN RELATION TO A VISITATION UPON THE DIOCESE OF CHICHESTER |url=https://www.chichester.anglican.org/media/assets/file/Visitation_Interim_Report_August_2012.pdf |website=Diocese of Chichester |access-date=12 December 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In current practice in the Church of England, the relevant archbishop appoints an ''episcopal commissary'' during a diocesan [[vacancy in see]]; that bishop (usually the senior suffragan in the diocese) is commonly called Acting&nbsp;Bishop of the diocese (e.g. Acting&nbsp;Bishop of Birmingham).<ref>{{cite web |website=Church of England Birmingham |title=Section: Welcome |url=https://www.cofebirmingham.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506004444/https://www.cofebirmingham.com/ |archive-date=6 May 2023 |access-date=21 May 2023 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Apostolic Commissary]]
*[[Commissioner]]
*[[Commissar]]
*[[Reichskommissar]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Commissary Apostolic|ref=none}}
*[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=commissary&searchmode=none commissary] at EtymologyOnLine

[[Category:Titles]]