Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

statuant en sa compétence ordinaire

English translation:

acting in its ordinary capacity

Added to glossary by Tony M
Dec 2, 2009 09:35
14 yrs ago
5 viewers *
French term

statuant en sa compétence ordinaire

French to English Law/Patents Law: Contract(s) (realting to decisions of a Shareholders' General Meeting)
This term, and its complement '...en sa compétence extraordinaire', appear in an agreement (in fact, to cancel by mutual agreement a previous contract):

« COMPANY, Représentée par Monsieur X, dûment habilité à l'effet des présentes en vertu d'une délibération de l'Assemblée Générale en date du XXX 2009 statuant en sa compétence ordinaire, »

[the text then goes on to define the other party to the agreement, etc.]

The other version appears later as:

« L'Assemblée Générale de COMPANY du xxx 2009, statuant en sa compétence extraordinaire, a prononcé la dissolution de COMPANY, compte tenu de la cessation de son activité »

I understand generally what this means, both 'statuant' and 'compétence', but I'm uncertain of what the correct wording should be; from the rest of my text, it is clear enough that 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' are OK, but i'm not sure about the rest — I don't quite see how a Shareholders' Meeting can be said to 'rule', in the way that a Court might... same problem for 'compétence' — not really 'jurisdiction' here! and I don't feel that 'scope' for example, sits very comfortably. I did wonder about 'capacity' — but I'm not sure if one can talk about 'ordinary/extraordinary capacities'??

Nothing I've found in the glossary has really helped me to find the solution I need here.

Proposed translations

+5
8 mins
Selected

acting in its ordinary capacity

Someone translating for L'Oréal seems to have come up with this, but it looks as though it's used by native English sites too. I agree with "capacity". I think the idea is more to distinguish whether the assembly is meeting under "ordinary" rules and attributions or "extraordinary" ones (powers, majorities, notice to attend, etc). So "acting" is probably enough rather than anything more specific in this phrase. Hth.
Peer comment(s):

agree Karen Stokes : Yes, I think that's right - that one decision was made at an ordinary general meeting and the other at an extraordinary one.
15 mins
agree Zoe Perry : I've used this before for divorce rulings from West Africa, but the same concept applies.
1 hr
agree Chris Hall
2 hrs
agree Mark Nathan : Yes, I came across a situation translating some company articles in which they specified the quorums and percentages of votes required etc. in order for those present at ordinary and extraordinary meetings (different rules) to pass certain resolutions
3 hrs
agree Rafael Wugalter (X) : Yes, and there is no real need to use "ruling" because the FR already says "a prononcé la dissolution" and that, in effect, is its ruling.
5 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, that was most helpful!"
+1
6 hrs

deciding as an ordinary general meeting

Hi there Tony,

this is definitely what it means, how you word it is up to you. When a shareholders' meeting meets in the form of an ordinary meeting, there are certain rules on what kind of decisions it can take etc. , the quorum and majority required. Some decisions can only be taken by Extraordinary meetings, with usually more stringent conditions as regards quorum and majority, i.e. changing the form of the company.

HTH
Note from asker:
Thanks a lot, Mary, for your very helpful extra input!
Peer comment(s):

agree Ken Fagan (X)
2 days 22 hrs
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