Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Disposición de la Presidencia

English translation:

Speaker\'s Order

Added to glossary by Ruth Ramsey
Dec 22, 2011 19:58
12 yrs ago
17 viewers *
Spanish term

Disposición de la Presidencia

Spanish to English Social Sciences Government / Politics Constitutional Monarchy
Spains' Transition to a Constitutional Monarchy

What would be the best translation for this? Is it a provision? Is it to with the speaker of the house?

Thanks in advance.

"**La 'Disposición de la Presidencia** complementaria del Reglamento, estableciendo el procedimiento de urgencia para la tramitación de los proyectos de ley' se publicó en el Boletín de las Cortes el 23 de abril."

Proposed translations

+2
2 hrs
Selected

Speaker's Order / Order of the Speaker

Both words are tricky.

For "Presidencia", we have to work out who it's referring to and then what to call them.
We are, I believe, in 1976, and the "Presidencia" in question is the "Presidencia de las Cortes", a position then occupied by the crucial figure of Torcuato Fernández Miranda.

"Fernández-Miranda explicará el procedimiento de urgencia
Esta tarde, en las Cortes [...]
La disposición de la Presidencia de las Cortes citada está motivada por el propósito de agilizar la tramitación de determinados proyectos de ley, así como de dar una mayor intervención al Pleno de la Cámara."
El País, 06/05/1976
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/PODER_LEGISLATIVO/_COR...

Even if this referred to the "Presidente del Gobierno", we couldn't (or shouldn't) use the word "President". Mariano Rajoy is not the President of Spain, he's the Prime Minister. However, that's another story.

As for the Presidente de las Cortes, he (or she) is commonly referred to as the "President" of the Cortes in English, but to my mind that's just a lazy calque of the Spanish term. The presiding officer of an upper house (such as the US Senate) is commonly called "president" in English, but the presiding officer of a lower house, including the House of Commons or the US House of Representatives, is called the Speaker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_(politics)

This is not just a pedantic quibble. To refer here to the "President" would obviously be misleading, because in the context of a legislature that term will normally be taken to refer to the head of state. To get round that you could say "President of the House" or "President of the Cortes", but I think it's much better to say "Speaker", which is unambiguous and creates exactly the right impression.

As for "disposición", this is best translated "order", in my opinion. "Provision" is a possibility. It is not a power held by the Speaker but an order granting him/her that power. So we shouldn't call this the Speaker's prerogative, a well-established term in itself.

Disposición is defined in the DRAE as "Precepto legal o reglamentario, deliberación, orden y mandato de la autoridad.". I think "order" is as good as anything here.


Note from asker:
Yes, I think you're probably right about it being the Speaker of the House.
Peer comment(s):

agree Andy Watkinson : Had almost forgotten Torcuato. A very well reasoned suggestion.
4 hrs
Many thanks, Andy, and Happy Christmas! :)
agree Muriel Vasconcellos : I follow your reasoning. In international organizations, "presidente" of the lower body is usually called the 'chairman', but that wouldn't work here (shades 'Chairman Mao'!). Your argument could be a tough sell, because it's a bit complicated.
18 hrs
Thanks very much, Muriel. This kind of terminology is always debatable, I admit. Anyway, have a good Christmas!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for a very helpful answer, Charles."
1 hr

Presidential Order

"Presidential Order Relative to the Regulations, establishing an expedited procedure for the filing of proposed legislation".
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29 mins

provision/order/disposal

Alcaraz Varo Términos Jurídicos

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-12-22 21:03:23 GMT)
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i would say yes to "presidency". I think it fits your context unless there is another more technical you can think of.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-12-22 22:02:22 GMT)
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presidential executive order is used to refer to a decree. I imagine you can use the same in your context but i rather favor the word provision

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-12-22 22:04:01 GMT)
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http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-spanish/presidency
Note from asker:
Thanks Marcelo. How about the rest of it? I believe it's not as straightforward as "Presidency".
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5 hrs

by order of the President of the Cortes

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