Definition
A special commission is an extraordinary judicial or investigative body convened outside the ordinary course of the courts or administrative apparatus to address a specific matter, emergency, or category of offense. The term carries two related but distinct senses in legal usage:
1. In English law (the classical sense): An extraordinary commission of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery, issued by the Crown to judges when the urgency of particular offenses demands immediate trial and punishment, bypassing the ordinary assize schedule. Such commissions were exceptional instruments of royal prerogative, deployed when the regular machinery of justice was too slow or geographically inconvenient to address pressing criminal matters.
2. In broader and modern American usage: Any commission — judicial, legislative, or executive — created for a defined, limited purpose outside the standing institutional structure. Special commissions in this sense include investigative bodies appointed by a legislature or governor to examine a specific incident, crisis, or policy question; temporary adjudicative panels empowered to hear a particular class of cases; and ad hoc bodies with authority that expires upon completion of the assigned task.
The unifying feature across both senses is specificity and temporariness: the commission exists for a particular purpose, exercises only the authority granted by its constituting instrument, and dissolves once that purpose is fulfilled.
Common Confusion
"Special commission" is frequently confused with "standing commission" or "regulatory commission." A standing or permanent commission (such as a state ethics commission or a federal regulatory body like the FEC or NRC) is an ongoing institution with continuing jurisdiction. A special commission, by contrast, is bounded in time and subject matter. The confusion matters in research because sources discussing a "commission" without qualification may be referring to either type, and the authority, procedural rules, and legal weight of the body's findings will differ accordingly.
"Special commission" should also be distinguished from "special master," which is a court-appointed officer assisting a specific case within ongoing litigation, rather than an independent body convened by executive or legislative authority.
Why It Matters in Research
The classical English usage — a Crown-issued commission of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery — is the definition embedded in historical legal dictionaries and will appear throughout English common law sources, colonial American legal records, and early state court decisions. Researchers working with pre-19th-century materials should expect this narrow, criminal-procedural meaning.
By the mid-to-late 19th century and into the 20th, American legal usage expanded the term considerably. State constitutions and statutes began authorizing special commissions for purposes ranging from legislative investigation to redistricting to post-disaster fact-finding. The term's breadth in modern sources can make it difficult to determine the precise nature of the body under discussion without consulting the constituting instrument.
A key trap in historical sources: Bouvier and Black both define special commission exclusively in the English criminal law sense, reflecting the term's dominant usage at the time of their writing. Researchers who encounter "special commission" in American state law sources from the 19th or 20th centuries should not assume the English criminal-law model applies; the body in question may have entirely different authority, composition, and procedural character.
Jurisdictional variation is substantial. Some state constitutions impose structural limits on what a special commission can do — particularly whether its findings carry legal force or merely advisory weight. In constitutional litigation, the distinction between a body exercising judicial power and one exercising only investigative or recommendatory power is legally significant.
When researching the outputs of a special commission (reports, findings, recommendations), check whether the constituting authority gave those outputs evidentiary status, binding effect, or advisory status only. This affects how courts and agencies have treated them in subsequent proceedings.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary and Bouvier's Law Dictionary are in near-verbatim agreement on this term, both tracking Wharton's Law Lexicon as their apparent common source. Both define the special commission exclusively as an English extraordinary commission of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery — a Crown instrument for urgent criminal adjudication.
This unanimity reflects the state of legal usage at the time both dictionaries were compiled, when the English model was the primary reference point for American legal writers. Neither source anticipates the proliferation of special commissions in the American legislative and executive context that would follow in the 20th century.
The historical definitions are useful for their core insight — that a special commission is characterized by urgency, specificity, and departure from ordinary institutional channels — but they are too narrow to serve as a complete guide to modern usage. Researchers relying solely on these historical definitions risk mischaracterizing the authority and nature of modern American special commissions.
Jurisdictional Note
In several American states, constitutional provisions restrict the creation of special commissions or limit their power to bind courts and agencies, particularly where the commission's function might otherwise encroach on judicial authority. Researchers should consult the specific state constitution and enabling statute to determine the scope of authority granted to any particular special commission.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
For context on permanent commissions with defined regulatory mandates — a useful contrast to the temporary and specific character of a special commission — see: The Federal Election Commission (FEC) — Structure, Authority, and Enforcement (The Law Mind Administrative Law & Government Encyclopedia); Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Radiation Safety (The Law Mind Administrative Law & Government Encyclopedia).