Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

Mesures d’office

English translation:

(Routine) self-help remedial steps

Added to glossary by Adrian MM.
Apr 8, 2019 15:19
5 yrs ago
19 viewers *
French term

Mesures d’office

French to English Law/Patents Law: Contract(s) contract for the installation of a tramway system
Les mesures d'office sont :

l'exécution en régie de tout ou partie des Prestations non exécutées ;
la conclusion, pour le compte du Prestataire, d'un ou plusieurs contrats avec un ou plusieurs tiers pour tout ou partie des Prestations que le Prestataire reste en défaut d’exécuter et / ou devant encore être exécutées.
Les mesures d’office prises par le Donneur d’Ordre devront être proportionnées au Manquement du Prestataire.

It seems to mean the measure that a company would take if the service provider doesn't do what it should do according to the contract, such as finishing the work itself etc.
Change log

Apr 22, 2019 09:52: Adrian MM. Created KOG entry

Discussion

Mpoma Apr 20, 2019:
"Summary" Pondering Tony's answer again, I'm unsatisfied with this idea that "summary" means "streamlining of procedures, not needing to take it to Court". Just as "d'office" has two usages, one from ordinary language, the other in a litigation context (not applicable here), so the same can be said of the EN adjective "summary".

In legal language one meaning of "summary" is "short, concise" ... but it can also mean "performed by cutting the procedures of a standard and fair trial" (Wiktionary). There are several examples here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summary_(law) . The thing these legal uses of the adjective have in common is that things are decided by a *court* and judges.

This is not the case here: it is the aggrieved party which takes the "mesures d'office", without reference to a court. "Summary" in ordinary language means "not including needless details or formalities; brief". This is contrary to the (non-legal) meaning of "d'office": it is not that "needless formalities" are skipped, it is that the decision is taken unilaterally, without prior discussion/negotation. And the idea of "speed" is indeed inherent to (non-legalistic) "summary" but absent from "d'office".
Mpoma Apr 15, 2019:
Re "demand is not negotiating" This is Daryo's objection to my suggestion of "without negotation". "Sans demande préalable" (one def, here for example: https://www.linternaute.fr/dictionnaire/fr/definition/d-offi... or here: https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/office/55726/... ) of course does not mean "without prior *demand*".

And I'm sure Daryo knows that! It means "without prior *request*". In all its meanings, legal and standard, "demande" (= request, application, claim, petition) always carries with it the possibility of failure to execute because permission is not obtained.

Inherent in the idea of request (with the possibility of rejection) is the idea of negotiation, or discussion, when things are decided by the parties (usually two of them). Daryo's objection to the idea that a court order also does not require negotiation, but is not "d'office", is something of red herring, in the sense 1) that the context does not infer court proceedings; 2) all the other answers proposed here could also be picked apart and also be found to be too broad *if context were to be studiously and unreasonably ignored*.

Once again... it's pretty simple stuff.
Mpoma Apr 9, 2019:
Context Bourth's answer cited by Writeaway at https://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/construction-ci... is useful... but I don't agree that "d'office" implies any notion of "standard/routine measures" any more than it implies "rapid action" (Tony's answer) or "extrajudicial" (Michael's answer). The definitions given at the links provided by me at internaute.fr and Wiktionnaire are perfectly clear and unambiguous: outside a specific court context, where "d'office" means "of its own motion" or (very much less often) "by virtue of the office", the usual meaning applies: "sans demande préalable" or "automatically". Not only that but that explanation perfectly matches the context. There is some chercher midi à quatorze heures going on here!
liz askew Apr 8, 2019:
AND
https://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/.../prendre des mesu...
Il peut également prendre des mesures d'office, ce qu'il n'a [...] fait qu'une .... requirements provide for ex officio measures to be taken by Members? europa.eu.

good luck!
liz askew Apr 8, 2019:
also:
www.droitbelge.be/news_detail.asp?id=393
Translate this page
23 Apr 2007 - Les clauses de remplacement (parfois appelées « mesures d'office ») Les articles 1143 et 1144 du Code civil qui fondent la faculté de ...

Proposed translations

+2
3 hrs
Selected

(Routine) self-help remedial steps

I may be barking up the wrong tree, but feel this terms ought to be looked at deductively from a contract repudiatory breach angle in Anglo-American law as well as deductively from past KudoZ translations. Alas, repudation of contract - whilst important in actual practice - isn't dealt with very well or at all in most 'standard' English contract law textbooks.

Self-help beingon one's initiative ('proprio motu') as in d'office

Perchance someone else can take this ball and run with it.
Example sentence:

Rather than bringing an action for breach of contract, the parties can make use of some self-help remedies such as retention oftitle clauses, enforcement of security, withholding payments andset off and rights against the goods themselves.

Peer comment(s):

agree Mpoma : Wow. Your answers are so technical, I'd be terrified if you were the lawyer for the other side in a case against me. But here for once I think I may see what you mean. I equate your "self-help" with my concept of "automatic" or "unilateral".
1 day 23 mins
Thanks, if technical means legalistic. Yes, indeed. Self-hep is supposed to reflect the d'office. You, presumably a male as you agree with me vs. the females on this site, have nowt to worry about. I have also retired from the law - after half a century.
agree GILLES MEUNIER : aussi
2 days 9 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+1
6 hrs

extra-judicial remedies / recourse measures

Might be a possibility to use in this context.

Peer comment(s):

agree AllegroTrans : this works well; I don't think extrajudicial should be hyphenated. Maybe prefix with "autonomous" or suffix with "on the initiative of one of the parties" for extra clarity
4 hrs
Thank you.
agree GILLES MEUNIER
7 hrs
Thank you.
disagree Mpoma : Hmmm. But where is the idea of "without prior request", which is the essential meaning of "d'office"? To me, "extrajudical remedies/recourse measures" implies something like arbitration, which I maintain is not the point here.
21 hrs
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1 day 21 hrs

Unilaterally-decided extrajudicial remedies

Just another variation for the melting pot
Peer comment(s):

neutral Mpoma : Sort of agree, but I think "extrajudicial remedies" is over-egging it, possibly to the point of confusion. "unilaterally decided [no hyphen] measures" works fine...
1 day 3 hrs
Extrajudicial simply means "not through a court"
neutral Daryo : wouldn't it be more accurate to say "measures available ..." they become "decided ..." only if and when it's needed.
3 days 21 hrs
OK, my attempt to tease out some suitable EN expression
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+1
34 mins

summary measures

I don't think 'ex officio' works here, the meaning is quite different!

I believe this is the term used, but you'll need to check it out for yourself; as I understand it, it means that if the contractor etc. fails to carry out the work they are supposed to, there won't be any shilly-shallying around, the customer will just summarily make other arrangements. I.e. no additional Court ruling or anything else will be needed before they can proceed.


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Note added at 13 days (2019-04-21 18:16:16 GMT)
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I think Mpoma is in danger of simplifying the situation ad absurdum — there are not just two ways in which "summary" is used in EN, and the one that applies here is used in plenty of other situations — another example close to the usage here would be "summary dismissal" — often when someone commits a fault so grave that they are immediately and forthwith dismissed on the spot.
Peer comment(s):

agree Tereza Rae
51 mins
Thanks, Tereza!
agree Yvonne Gallagher
8 hrs
Thanks, Yvonne!
disagree Mpoma : Yes in fact Bourth has summarised some of what I'm trying to say at the link in Writeaway's Reference post below. I see no "speed of execution" inherent in "d'office". I don't in fact totally agree with B in that link however ... see discussion.
1 day 3 hrs
Thanks! I didn't mention 'speed', simply streamlining of procedures, not needing to take it to Court, etc.
neutral AllegroTrans : The problem with this is that a court can order "summary measures"; this fails to underline the unilateral and "self-help" nature of the measures
3 days 21 hrs
Thanks, C! I think ti does, inasmuch as it is explained in the surrounding context.
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Reference comments

48 mins
Reference:

Definitely a dictionary term -worth checking

Robert-Collins

♦ d'office
■ être nommé/mis à la retraite d'office : to be appointed/retired automatically ou as a matter of course
■ faire quelque chose d'office
(Administration) to do something automatically
(en général) to do something as a matter of course ou automatically
■ avocat/expert (commis) d'office : officially appointed lawyer/expert

This Kudoz question (already in the glossary) provides a great explanation and suggestions:
https://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/construction-ci...
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree Tony M
46 mins
agree Daryo : to do something as a matter of course or automatically // here: remedial measures immediately available, without any need for obtaining anyone's authorisation.
6 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher : yes, Bourth is missed
8 hrs
agree Mpoma : Yes, Bourth is saying something of what I'm saying: "automatically", "unilaterally", "with no prior negotation". It's simple stuff really. However I disagree with his interpretation of "routine measures".
1 day 3 hrs
agree AllegroTrans : statrting point
1 day 8 hrs
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1 day 31 mins
Reference:

From the horse's mouth ....

C. Le défaut d'exécution, les mesures d'office et les sanctions

L’adjudicataire est considéré en défaut d’exécution du marché lorsque les prestations ne sont pas exécutées dans les conditions définies par les documents du marché (RGE, art. 44).

Tous les manquements aux clauses du marché, y compris la non-observation des ordres du pouvoir adjudicateur, sont constatés par un procès-verbal dont une copie est transmise immédiatement à l’adjudicataire par lettre recommandée.

L’adjudicataire est tenu de s’exécuter immédiatement. Il peut faire valoir ses moyens de défense par lettre recommandée adressée au pouvoir adjudicateur dans les quinze jours suivant le jour déterminé par la date de l’envoi du procès-verbal (ce délai peut exceptionnellement être raccourci). Son silence est considéré, après ce délai, comme une reconnaissance des faits constatés.

Les documents du marché peuvent prévoir l’application d’une pénalité spéciale pour tout défaut d’exécution. Sinon, tout défaut d’exécution pour lequel aucune pénalité spéciale n’est prévue donne lieu à une pénalité unique ou journalière, telle que prévue par les règles générales d’exécution.

Des amendes pour retard sont dues, quant à elles, sans mise en demeure, par la seule expiration du délai sans intervention d’un procès-verbal et appliquées de plein droit pour la totalité des jours de retard, conformément à l’article 45 de l’arrêté royal RGE

L’article 47 de l’arrêté royal RGE indique d’abord que, lorsqu’à l’expiration du délai, pour faire valoir ses moyens de défense, l’adjudicataire est resté inactif ou a présenté des moyens jugés non justifiés par le pouvoir adjudicateur, celui-ci peut recourir aux mesures d’office. Celles-ci sont définies comme les sanctions applicables à l’adjudicataire en cas de manquement grave dans l’exécution du marché.

Les mesures d’office sont:

la résiliation unilatérale du marché; dans ce cas, la totalité du cautionnement ou, à défaut de constitution, un montant équivalent, est acquise de plein droit au pouvoir adjudicateur à titre de dommages et intérêts forfaitaires;

l’exécution en régie de tout ou partie du marché non exécuté;

la conclusion d’un ou de plusieurs marchés pour compte avec un ou plusieurs tiers pour tout ou partie du marché restant à exécuter.

L’adjudicataire en défaut d’exécution peut, outre les sanctions déjà évoquées, être exclu par le pouvoir adjudicateur de ses marchés pour une durée maximale de 3 ans, sans préjudice des sanctions établies par la loi du 20 mars 1991 organisant l’agréation d’entrepreneurs de travaux.


http://www.uvcw.be/articles/3,18,2,0,2482.htm

Les documents du marché peuvent prévoir l’application d’une pénalité spéciale
=>
les "mesures d'office" sont prévues au contrat et immediatement applicables - sans autre forme de procès.
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree Mpoma : These *particular* mesures d'office, in this context, are as outlined. In fact this extract merely illustrates: the point being that the breaches of the adjudicataire can be repaired without any prior negotiation. See discussion re your reply!
3 hrs
again: it the client has to sue first to obtain remedy there wouldn't be ANY "negotiations" either; the key point is "immediately available"/"sans demande préalable" which doesn't equate to "without any prior negotiation" / a "demand" is not "negotiating"
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