Chancellor

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Chancellor (Latin: cancellarius) is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the audience. A chancellor's office is called a chancellery or chancery. The word is now used in the titles of many various officers in all kinds of settings (government, education, religion etc.) Nowadays the term is most often used to describe:

Contents

Head of government

The former German Empire, the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany had the equivalent position of Reichskanzler ("Chancellor of the Empire"), as the head of the executive appointed by the German Emperor from 1871 until 1918, and then as the head of government until 1945.

Foreign minister

In Latin America, the terms Canciller (Spanish) or Chanceler (Portuguese), equivalent to "chancellor", are commonly used informally to refer to the post of foreign minister. Likewise, the ministry of foreign affairs in many Latin American countries is referred to as the Cancillería or (in Brazil) Chancelaria. However, in Spain the term canciller refers to a civil servant in the Spanish diplomatic service responsible for technical issues relating to foreign affairs.

Functions related to justice and the law

Other

Ecclesiastical

Main article: Chancellor (ecclesiastical)

The chancellor is the principal record-keeper of a diocese or eparchy, or their equivalent. The chancellor is a notary, so that he may certify official documents, and often has other duties at the discretion of the bishop of the diocese: he may be in charge of some aspect of finances or of managing the personnel connected with diocesan offices, although his delegated authority cannot extend to vicars of the diocesan bishop, such as vicars general, episcopal vicars or judicial vicars. His office is within the "chancery." Vice-chancellors may be appointed to assist the chancellor in busy chanceries. Normally, the chancellor is a priest or deacon, although in some circumstances a layperson may be appointed to the post.[6] In the eparchial curia a chancellor is to be appointed who is to be a presbyter (priest) or deacon and whose principal obligation, unless otherwise established by the particular law, is to see that the acts of the curia are gathered and arranged as well as preserved in the archives of the eparchial curia. [7]

In the United Methodist Church, each Annual Conference has a Conference Chancellor, who is either an active or retired lawyer or judge who serves as the Annual Conference's legal adviser and representative. While the Annual Conference will usually hire outside professional counsel in legal matters requiring legal representation, that hiring and representation is done under the supervision, and with the consent, of the Conference Chancellor.[8]

Educational usage

Main article: Chancellor (education)

A Chancellor is the leader (either ceremonial or executive) of many public and private universities and related institutions.

The heads of the New York City Department of Education and the District of Columbia Public Schools, who run the municipally-operated public schools in those jurisdictions, carry the title of Chancellor. New York State also has a Chancellor of the University of the State of New York, the body that licenses and regulates all educational and research institutions in the state and many professions (not to be confused with the State University of New York, an actual institution of higher learning).

In a few instances, the term chancellor is used for a student or faculty member within a high school or an institution of higher learning being either appointed or elected as chancellor in order to preside on the highest ranking judicial board or tribunal. They handle non-academic matters such as violations of behavior.

Historical uses

The other title translated as chancellor is "Keeper of the Royal Seal" (or overseer of the seal or treasurer—imy-r xtmt[11][12]). Officials holding the post include Bay or Irsu, Khety[13] Meketre,[14] and Nakhti.[15]
The first title (royal sealer) announced a certain rank at the royal court, the second (supervisor of the sealed goods, i.e. treasurer) was responsible for the state's income. This position appears around 2000 BC.
For more details on this topic, see kanclerz.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sir Christopher Hatton". Love to Know Classic Encyclopedia (from the 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica). http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Sir_Christopher_Hatton. 
  2. ^ "Constitutional continuity: Jack Straw speech at the London School of Economics". 3 March 2009. http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/speech030309a.htm. Retrieved 5 March 2009. 
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ VABARIIGI VALITSUSE SEADUS (Estonian)
  5. ^ ÕIGUSKANTSLERI SEADUS (Estonian)
  6. ^ CIC 482; CCEO 252—§1.
  7. ^ §2. If it seems necessary the chancellor can be given an assistant whose title is vice-chancellor. §3. The chancellor as well as the vice-chancellor are by the law itself notaries of the eparchial curia. In the 1983 Code of Canon Law for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church, the chancellor may be a layperson, and not necessarily a presbyter or deacon. The office of the Chancellor is mandatory in all diocessan (eparchial) curia. The primary function of the Chancellor is to keep the curial records properly.Beal, New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2000, p.635
  8. ^ As an example, see the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (www.txcumc.org).
  9. ^ Toby A. H. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, Routledge 1999, p.131
  10. ^ Michael Rice, Who's Who in Ancient Egypt, Routledge 2001, p.63
  11. ^ pBerlin 10035 in U. Luft, Urkunden zur Chronologie der späten 12. Dynastie, Briefe aus Illahun, Wien 2006, 69 ff.
  12. ^ pLouvre 3230 B in E. Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt, Atlanta, 1990, 92
  13. ^ Memoirs, Egypt Exploration Society—1958, p.7
  14. ^ Serdab of the Chancellor Meketre
  15. ^ Michael Rice, Who's Who in Ancient Egypt, Routledge 2001