Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
promesse de décision
English translation:
BrE tabling of a : promised motion for a resolution
Added to glossary by
Adrian MM.
May 12, 2021 11:49
3 yrs ago
41 viewers *
French term
promesse de décision
French to English
Law/Patents
Business/Commerce (general)
Statuts
"...
(b) Les membres du Conseil de Surveillance ont droit, sur présentation des justificatifs correspondants, au remboursement par la Société des frais externes et débours raisonnablement encourus dans le cadre de l'exercice de leur mandat.
17.4 Pouvoirs.
Les Décisions Importantes (ou promesses de décisions) telles que listées à l'Article 10.2(a), concernant la Société et ses Filiales, et les mesures conduisant en pratique aux mêmes conséquences, ne pourront être prises sans l'accord préalable du Conseil de Surveillance au sein duquel l'Investisseur Majoritaire est majoritaire, statuant à la majorité simple."
Incidentally the types of "important decision" in 10.2(a) are decisions for which the Chairman must request prior authorisation from the Supervisory Board:
"i. l'approbation du budget annuel du Groupe (y compris le plan d'investissement) et le business plan ou de toute modification de ces documents ;
ii. l'approbation des états financiers annuels consolidés de la Société et de toute société du Groupe, ainsi que des états financiers consolidés de la Société ;
iii. l'émission d'actions ou de titres (à l'exception des émissions dans le cadre du plan d'intéressement au capital préalablement approuvé et adapté par le Conseil de Surveillance) donnant accès au capital social de la Société ou de toute société du Groupe, avec suppression du droit préférentiel de souscription, ou toute réduction du capital social ;
etc. "
Never come across this before. I'm proposing "undertakings to take decisions". But marginally it occurs to me that it could be "promised decisions", i.e. a decision which has been taken but not yet implemented, though with a commitment of some kind that it will at some point be implemented, ... so not quite the same.
Either way (or if I'm on the wrong track) there might be a better English term...
Or perhaps ... this expression is ambiguous in the same way to a French-speaker? In which case "decision promises" might be the only way to keep the ambiguity...
"...
(b) Les membres du Conseil de Surveillance ont droit, sur présentation des justificatifs correspondants, au remboursement par la Société des frais externes et débours raisonnablement encourus dans le cadre de l'exercice de leur mandat.
17.4 Pouvoirs.
Les Décisions Importantes (ou promesses de décisions) telles que listées à l'Article 10.2(a), concernant la Société et ses Filiales, et les mesures conduisant en pratique aux mêmes conséquences, ne pourront être prises sans l'accord préalable du Conseil de Surveillance au sein duquel l'Investisseur Majoritaire est majoritaire, statuant à la majorité simple."
Incidentally the types of "important decision" in 10.2(a) are decisions for which the Chairman must request prior authorisation from the Supervisory Board:
"i. l'approbation du budget annuel du Groupe (y compris le plan d'investissement) et le business plan ou de toute modification de ces documents ;
ii. l'approbation des états financiers annuels consolidés de la Société et de toute société du Groupe, ainsi que des états financiers consolidés de la Société ;
iii. l'émission d'actions ou de titres (à l'exception des émissions dans le cadre du plan d'intéressement au capital préalablement approuvé et adapté par le Conseil de Surveillance) donnant accès au capital social de la Société ou de toute société du Groupe, avec suppression du droit préférentiel de souscription, ou toute réduction du capital social ;
etc. "
Never come across this before. I'm proposing "undertakings to take decisions". But marginally it occurs to me that it could be "promised decisions", i.e. a decision which has been taken but not yet implemented, though with a commitment of some kind that it will at some point be implemented, ... so not quite the same.
Either way (or if I'm on the wrong track) there might be a better English term...
Or perhaps ... this expression is ambiguous in the same way to a French-speaker? In which case "decision promises" might be the only way to keep the ambiguity...
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
May 20, 2021 18:02: Adrian MM. Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
2 hrs
Adrian MM.
Austria
Austria
Native in English
Austria
Retd.T&I, Barrister & Austro-Advokat
Native in: English (Variants: Scottish, British) 
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish, French to English, and 5 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
31
French term (edited):
promesse/s de décision
Selected
BrE Corp. tabling of a : promised motion for a resolution
Better not use 'tabling' for US consumption as purportedly means the opposite, namely of filing away.
As a French squeaker, rather than a native French speaker, I doubt there is any ambiguity. They are roughly preliminary decision-making vs.voting agreement/s.
Methinks that, in UK administrative law, the focus would switch to a 'legitimate decision-making expectation', though I have nowt against ones of the 'illegitimate' variety.
Best or reasonable endeavours is possibly too weak cf. 'procurar' in Spanish that once triggered a prof. negligence case against the SPA /ENG translator in a sale of land: the seller had to obtain planning permission, rather than using 'best efforts'. No ifs or buts,
As a French squeaker, rather than a native French speaker, I doubt there is any ambiguity. They are roughly preliminary decision-making vs.voting agreement/s.
Methinks that, in UK administrative law, the focus would switch to a 'legitimate decision-making expectation', though I have nowt against ones of the 'illegitimate' variety.
Best or reasonable endeavours is possibly too weak cf. 'procurar' in Spanish that once triggered a prof. negligence case against the SPA /ENG translator in a sale of land: the seller had to obtain planning permission, rather than using 'best efforts'. No ifs or buts,
Example sentence:
UK > For example an obligation on directors of a company to *use best endeavours to pass a resolution* would not require directors to breach their statutory duties and to recommend a resolution to shareholders once it was no longer in the company's intere
There is no doubt that procedural protection of legitimate expectations, which does not limit future decision-making, can be applied even when there is no detrimental reliance. See: De Smith, Woolf and Jowell Judicial Review of Administrative Action
Reference:
https://www.ashurst.com/en/news-and-insights/legal-updates/interpreting-endeavours-clauses/
https://iate.europa.eu/search/standard/result/1620820388819/1
Note from asker:
| "French squeaker"? Sir, you are too modest! Interesting suggestion as ever, <i>en tout cas</i>. |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: I can't "promise" an agree but I may well table one in due course
5 hrs
|
|
Thanks, Chris. The asker, though, has already - for better or for worse - plumped for this one in BrE or hit on this answer in AmE.
|
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks"
+1
22 mins
Conor McAuley
France
France
Native in English
Specializes in field
France
Excellence, Expertise & Experience
Native in: English (Variants: Wales / Welsh, UK, Scottish, Irish, British)
Works in: French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
135
promises to take decisions (in the future)
My take on it.
Promises: not legally binding, "We will try to do this"
Undertaking: legally binding
Also when you google
"promesses de decisions" statuts
you get almost nothing, another reason to stick as close to the source text as possible, and do a word-for-word translation.
THAT ALL BEING SAID, LOW CONFIDENCE AS A CAUTIONARY MEASURE.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2021-05-12 14:00:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
On second thoughts, and reading the whole paragraph again closely, promises may be legally binding, see
" ...et les mesures conduisant en pratique aux mêmes conséquences..."
but I would stick to my original advice of staying as literal as possible, the term is highly unusual, handle with care.
16 hrs
pending decisions
Hello
As the upcoming decisions are listed, they are "pending" Everyone knows that these decisions are to be taken soon, which covers the idea of "promised" or "undertaken", or Adrian's "tabling".
As the upcoming decisions are listed, they are "pending" Everyone knows that these decisions are to be taken soon, which covers the idea of "promised" or "undertaken", or Adrian's "tabling".
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: I see your drift, but they are also descibed in asker's text as "major decisions" and are a specific subset of decisions, so "pending" doesn't really clinch it
8 hrs
|
|
Major pending decisions?
|
18 hrs
Gladis Audi, DipTrans
Netherlands
Netherlands
Native in French
Specializes in field
Netherlands
EN>FR Int Org/Dev/Coop, Legal
Native in: French (Variant: Standard-France)
Works in: English to French, French to English
(or promise thereof)
C'est ce que j'utiliserais (c'est clair et concis).
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: Interesting twist, but I think adding "thereof" changes the meaning
6 hrs
|
| neutral |
Thomas Miles
: I do think 'thereof' et al. are sometimes very useful. My only reservation here stem from my doubts over whether the promised decisions are also important.
8 hrs
|
Discussion
Adrian's answer seems to be getting a lot of attention
My take on it, and on Adrian's answers in general (please don't take this badly Adrian) is that they are not so much translations as explanations: Let's call them "explanatory translations"
While "explanatory translations" may be needed sometimes, for reasons of clarity, I often think they are not called for and here is a super case in hand IMHO
What follows in the text is MORE than enough to dismiss any such "explanatory translation" as obsolete/redundant.
I also have great trouble following Adrian's line of thought in general and his verbose comments explaining his answers, but I'm certainly not alone here.
Whatever, after seeing all the answers, I do like my own answer but could happily live with Conor's more literal translation or Gladis' more semantic-based solution.
Regards to all
I have found to my surpise that "décisions prises" can mean "motions carried" - in other words decisions that are slowly materialising from the dark, mysterious world of the supervisory board and only become decisions/resolutions when the shareholders have given the proverbial nod. Yes, we are in the ethereal realm for sure.
Rhetorical question I know, but I don't see "important" (usually means "major") as a synonym with promised
Are we in the eccentric area again?
10.2 (a): no title. This part begins with this boilerplate: "Le Président représente la Société dans ses rapports avec les tiers. Le Président est investi des pouvoirs les plus étendus pour agir en toutes circonstances au nom de la Société dans la limite de l'objet social et sous réserve des attributions que la loi et les présents Statuts réservent expressément à la collectivité des associés."