Whilst I take on board what Steven Geller says, the "official" translation (Court of Accounts) does not indicate that the role of the Cour des Comptes is to oversee the handling of public finance in France. This sort of translation quandrum is quite a personal thing, in my view. I generally like to leave the original and add a footnote.


1 - Dictionnaire d’Economie et de Sciences Sociales, Echaudemaison, C.-D., Nathan :

« cour des Comptes : jurisdiction administrative créée par la loi du 16. décembre 1807, chargée d’assurer un contrôle de gestion financière de l’Etat et des établissements publics. »

Its yearly report is published in the Official Journal and is largely quoted by the press!

2 - http://www.ccomptes.fr/glossaire/gloss.htm

Go through this page with a search on “cour des comptes” and you will see just how specific it is.


3 - http://www.ccomptes.fr/Cour-des-comptes/cdc.htm

http://www.ccomptes.fr/Cour-des-comptes/presentation/mission...

Depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'extension des compétences de l'Etat s'est accompagnée d'un élargissement des missions de la Cour.
Elle a désormais compétence pour contrôler :
Obligatoirement :

- l'Etat ;
- les établissements publics nationaux ;
- les entreprises publiques (depuis 1976) ;
- les organismes de sécurité sociale (depuis 1950).
Dans tous les cas, sa saisine résulte de la loi, elle est donc automatique.
Facultativement :
- les organismes de droit privé dont la majorité des voix ou du capital est détenue par des organismes soumis obligatoirement au contrôle de la Cour ou dans lesquels ces organismes ont un pouvoir prépondérant de décision ou de gestion ;
- les organismes de droit privé (les associations, notamment) bénéficiaires de concours financiers d'origine publique ;
- les organismes d'intérêt général faisant appel à la générosité publique (depuis 1991) ;
- les organismes bénéficiant de concours financiers de l'Union européenne (art. 45 de la loi n° 96-314 du 12 avril 1996).
- les organismes habilités à recevoir des taxes parafiscales, des impositions de toute nature, des cotisations légalement obligatoires (article 11 de la loi du 12 avril 2000)


4 - http://www.ccomptes.fr/anglais/anglais01.htm

THE PUBLIC FINANCE COURTS
Jurisdiction over the financial affairs of the French public sector is invested in the Cour des comptes (Court of Accounts) and the Chambres régionales des comptes (Regional Courts of Accounts) . Other bodies are also affiliated to the Cour des comptes .
The various laws concerning the public finance courts were compiled into a Code in 1995 (Acts of 2 and 27 December 1994, Act of 24 July 1995).

Also : http://www.ccomptes.fr/anglais/anglais01.htm





--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-01-31 11:27:32 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I decided to have a look at the Eurodicautom : lots of hits including :

- Supreme Audit Office (Slovakia)
- Audit Authority (Austria)
- Court of Auditors (7 hits, UC docs : eg treaty, OJEC, etc…)
- Audit Council (Galicia)
- Audit Office (Belgium)

Interestingly enough, one suggestion (Document 7) gives “Cour des Comptes” in inverted commas, left in V.O., with the following definition, with a suggested translation in brackets too, texto :

“Many functions of the French \"Cour des Comptes\"(Court of Auditors) are carried out by the House of Commons Select Committee on Expenditure in the United Kingdom.”

This is an example of the type of reason upon which I base a personal first preference to leaving in V.O., and then providing a footnote. Where a close parallel works, as the functions are similar, then I am happy to use a “foreign” equivalent. Otherwise, using the term adopted on the Cour des Comptes’ website can be justified a long way down the line. It is an accurate rendering of the original, but does not explain anything about function, but then neither does the French. Never the less, the range of suggestions – and the note for the UK – give perhaps a fair amount of freedom on this one. The UK is often out on a limb in this sort of situation. It’s also worth bearing in mind that although the CdC website exists in an English version, a translator somewhere made a decision to translate it thus, thereby attaching an official or quasi-official English title. This does not and cannot exclude other possibilities…

Theodore will decide, although I think it might have been helpful to have provided information on target reader!


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-01-31 11:28:59 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Just noted that for a US newspaper article - Dee\'s suggestion probably quite appropriate at least for a parallel in a footnote.