In law, a special master is an authority appointed by a judge to make sure that judicial orders are actually followed.
In England, at common law, there were "Masters in Chancery," who acted in aid of the Equity Courts. There were also "Masters in Lunacy," who conducted inquiries of the same nature as modern civil commitment proceedings. In the table of precedence for England these two offices rank immediately above Companions of the Bath.
In the United States of America a special master is an "adjunct to a federal court, and Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows a federal court to appoint a master, with the consent of the parties, to conduct proceedings and report to the Court.
Read more about Special Master: United Kingdom, United States
Famous quotes containing the words special and/or master:
“When we walk the streets at night in safety, it does not strike us that this might be otherwise. This habit of feeling safe has become second nature, and we do not reflect on just how this is due solely to the working of special institutions. Commonplace thinking often has the impression that force holds the state together, but in fact its only bond is the fundamental sense of order which everybody possesses.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Nothing can be done about it: every master has but a single pupil—and he will not stay loyal to him—for he is also destined to become a master.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)