French term
attaché communal
The person before whom the document was signed is a Registrar by appointment, but also an "attaché communal"
Any ideas what that is in English?
| Le grade d'attaché communal ... |
Daryo
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Non-PRO (1): Rachel Fell
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Proposed translations
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: British, Scottish, Irish, Singaporean, UK, South African) 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
Council Officer
This news article, about a registrar, demonstrates how a "registrar" is also an Officer
"COUNCIL OFFICER TAKES NATIONAL TITLE
Darlington's superintendent registrar Anthony Hall was named the country’s REGISTRAR of the year at the annual Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services (Lacors) conference earlier this month."
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/darlington/4380...
"The work of the Council is implemented by COUNCIL OFFICERS - these are staff who are not elected and are not party political."
"Council staff are responsible for providing advice, implementing council’s direction and taking action on council decisions. COUNCIL OFFICERS also provide advice and expertise that help a council to form policy decisions, along with delivering services
https://www.hackney.gov.uk/article/3605/How-the-Council-works
http://knowyourcouncil.vic.gov.au/guide-to-councils/how-councils-work/council-structure
| disagree |
B D Finch
: I was a council officer for over ten years and can assure you that, unlike an "attaché communal", I was not a civil servant. Difference between a council worker and a council officer: the latter has an administrative and even decision-making function.
13 hrs
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| agree |
SafeTex
: If "municipal" officer can get 3 agrees, "council officer" does not deserve a disagree. The two terms conjure up the same idea but one is more US and one more GB
2 days 3 hrs
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Thank you, my disagree seems to be down to my "peer comment disagree" stalker.
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United Kingdom
Going the extra mile for premium results
Native in: French (Variants: Swiss, Belgian, Standard-France, Luxembourgish, Canadian)
Works in: English to French, French to English
city council officer
| agree |
Mark Harris
52 mins
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| disagree |
B D Finch
: The commune is a local council, which may well not be a city. (The departmental capital I live in isn't a city.) A "council officer" is not a civil servant and is employed directly by the local authority.
58 mins
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| disagree |
Daryo
: B D Finch has a good point "une commune" may not have a single "city" in it. It's more the equivalent of a "local authority" - a local council
2 hrs
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| neutral |
Lara Barnett
: I agree with the comments about "City", there is nothing in the French term that suggests this is regarding a City Council.// I meant the "city" part is not relevant.
3 hrs
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Austria
Retd.T&I, Barrister & Austro-Advokat
Native in: English (Variants: British, Scottish) 
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish, French to English, and 5 more.
Assistant (UK) Borough or Deputy (US) Town Clerk
Otherwise, in the UK as opposed to many US Federal States, a Town Clerk is, in my experience, often an autocratic, administrative post distinct from a Register (not Registry) Office Superintendent.
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Note added at 4 hrs (2019-09-23 20:39:24 GMT)
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Bath, Maine, USA and not England: 'Birth records are available at the municipal clerk's office where the child was born'
New York State marriage licenses may be obtained from the Town Clerk's office and can be used anywhere in the State of New York.
| neutral |
B D Finch
: The point of the source term is not the function fulfilled by the person concerned, but their employment status, which is that of a civil servant on attachment to a local authority. Why "town clerk"? http://www.portlandtowncouncil.gov.uk/parish-clerk.html
13 hrs
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OK. but do we really need for a sign-off a long explanation of a civil-servant secondment as an NB junior-ranking 'local government. officer'.//Town Clerk had been prefaced with the US - not the English Home Counties - overbearing equivalent.
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| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: I both agree with BD and say that, once again, you are wrongly trying to mushroom terms like this into the UK or USA systems
1 day 20 hrs
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Australia
Australian English Localization Expert
Native in: English (Variant: Australian)
Works in: French to English, English to French, English
municipal officer
| agree |
Eliza Hall
: Yes. This is generic enough to refer to a status or grade (as opposed to a job title, which attaché communal is not), while giving the gist of the meaning to the EN reader.
1 hr
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| agree |
Ph_B (X)
1 hr
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| agree |
Cyril Tollari
6 hrs
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civil servant seconded to the commune [local authority]
By Richard C Crook, Richard C. Crook, James Manor, Fellows of the Institute of Development Studies James Manor
https://bit.ly/2kWaaGD
The Government and Politics of France
By Andrew Knapp, Vincent Wright
https://bit.ly/2mffVPC
"territorial civil service, creating the grade of administrateur territorial at a ... Servants of the state were also seconded to local authorities, particularly the regions, ... "
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Note added at 17 hrs (2019-09-24 09:57:27 GMT)
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http://www.onisep.fr/Ressources/Univers-Metier/Metiers/attac...
"Urbanisme, finances, ressources humaines, animation... la fonction d'attaché territorial peut s'exercer dans un grand nombre de domaines et revêtir des aspects très différents. Ce fonctionnaire de catégorie A peut travailler dans n'importe quelle collectivité territoriale : conseil général ou régional, municipalité, établissement public... et a souvent la charge d'une équipe ou d'un service. Durant sa carrière, il doit faire jouer la mobilité hiérarchique et géographique pour avancer en grade et en salaire.
Pour accéder à ce métier, il faut réussir un concours, accessible à partir d'un niveau bac + 3 ou équivalent. Dans certains cas, le diplôme peut être remplacé par de l'expérience professionnelle. Le concours peut être préparé dans un Ipag (institut de préparation à l'administration générale). Après la réussite au concours, le futur attaché a 3 ans pour trouver un poste. Une fois recruté, il devient stagiaire et reçoit une formation adaptée à son poste, à l'Enact (École nationale d'application des cadres territoriaux) à Angers, Montpellier ou Nancy."
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Note added at 18 hrs (2019-09-24 10:13:38 GMT)
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As clarified by the above note, the attaché is attached to a local authority, rather than seconded to it, because they have no home base that they are seconded from. However, unlike a council officer (fonctionnaire communal), they are expected to move between local authorities and their training is centralised and nationally organised.
So, I revise my answer to:
civil servant attached to the commune [local authority]
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Note added at 18 hrs (2019-09-24 10:32:36 GMT)
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https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attaché_territorial
"En France, les attachés territoriaux sont des fonctionnaires d'un cadre d'emplois de catégorie A occupant des emplois de cadres intermédiaires.
Ce cadre d'emplois comporte les grades d'attaché territorial, d'attaché territorial principal, directeur territorial (en voie d'extinction) et d'attaché hors classe..
Ils sont appelés à assurer des responsabilités dans des secteurs très divers, notamment ceux de l’administration générale (ressources humaines, finances, marchés publics...), de l’action sanitaire et sociale, de l’informatique, de l’animation.
Ils exercent leurs missions au sein d'une collectivité territoriale (commune, département, région) ou dans l'un de ses établissements publics. "
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Note added at 2 days 19 hrs (2019-09-26 11:56:17 GMT)
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@Asker
Bear in mind that the average council officer is not an "attaché communal".
| Thank you BD Finch for all your explanations, and also to all who have contributed to the discussion and made cogent distinctions. However this answer is too cumbersome and I am likely to select "council officer" after waiting a little longer |
| disagree |
Daryo
: see refs.
1 hr
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I think that the only change that I should make is to change "seconded" to "attached". This is a civil servant, not a local council officer, though they are attached to a local authority.
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| neutral |
Ph_B (X)
: "seconded" would be the translation of détachés or mis à disposition.
15 hrs
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See note above.
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Translating to make a change
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Latin American, Cuban, US, Mexican)
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English, French to Spanish, and 2 more.
local-government officer
SOURCE: The Council of Europe French-English Legal Dictionary by F. H. S. Bridge, Council of Europe
Reference comments
Le grade d'attaché communal ...
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PuoqAQAAIAAJ&q="attaché ...
fois qu'un maire ou un président d'établissement public procède à la nomination d'un attaché communal recruté à l'issue d'un des trois concours prévu à l'article 4 ci-dessus, il peut décider d'intégrer dans un second poste d'attaché soit : Un chef de bureau en fonction à la date ... Les agents intégrés en application des articles 18 et 19 ci-dessus sont reclassés dans le grade d'attaché communal de 1"°
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=q0rBTIxXYMsC&q="attaché ...
Les discussions relatives à plusieurs projets et d'abord à la création du grade d'attaché communal sont donc activement ... qui ne sont pas négligeables, une réflexion plus hardie doit être menée sur l'avenir de la fonction publique locale.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=z-Bj91o5BRMC&q="attaché ...
more
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q="attaché communal" grade d...
| agree |
AllegroTrans
: Yes, always start with facts rather than trying to mushroom terms like this into one's own country system. Vive la différence.
3 hrs
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Discussion
So, what I mean is that you cannot really dispute one or the other being used here.
A Town Clerk is a senior, not "junior-ranking" local government officer. As there is no direct English equivalent of an "attaché communal", either it needs a rather wordy translation, or it should be left in French with an explanation in square brackets or a translator's note.
It's a grade in the hierarchy, not any specific job. Also, these " attachés" are directly employed by these local authorities, they not "detached" from anywhere else.
Le statut de 1952, la loi du 13 juillet 1972, la création du grade d'attaché communal sont autant de réformes visant à ... des collectivités locales accentue notablement le processus d'imitation des traits structurels de la fonction publique d'Etat.
Administration et politique sous la Cinquième République: ...
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LWkqAAAAMAAJ&q="attaché ...
to have a better idea of the system:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonction_publique_française
All kind of "attaché" to be found under "Catégorie A type"