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35-645: The Napier Commission , officially the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands was a royal commission and public inquiry into the condition of crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland . The commission was appointed in 1883, with Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier , as its chairman, under William Gladstone 's Liberal government of

70-506: A commission has started the government cannot stop it. Consequently, governments are usually very careful about framing the terms of reference and generally include in them a date by which the commission must finish. Royal commissions are called to look into matters of great importance and usually controversy. These can be matters such as government structure, the treatment of minorities, events of considerable public concern or economic questions. Many royal commissions last many years and, often,

105-691: A different government is left to respond to the findings. Royal commissions have been held in Australia at a federal level since 1902. Royal commissions appointed by the Governor-General operate under the Royal Commissions Act 1902 passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1902. A defunct alternative is known as a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. Royal commissions are the highest form of inquiry on matters of public importance. A royal commission

140-476: A few cases—compelling all government officials to aid in the execution of the commission. The results of royal commissions are published in reports, often massive, of findings containing policy recommendations. Due to the verbose nature of the titles of these formal documents they are commonly known by the name of the commission's chair. For example, the “Royal Commission into whether there has been corrupt or criminal conduct by any Western Australian Police Officer”

175-401: A negative and positive light. Since amateurs often lack formal training and are self-taught, some amateur work may be considered sub-par. For example, amateur athletes in sports such as basketball , baseball , or football are regarded as possessing a lower level of ability than professional athletes. On the other hand, an amateur may be in a position to approach a subject with an open mind (as

210-454: A result of the lack of formal training) and in a financially disinterested manner. An amateur who dabbles in a field out of interest rather than as a profession, or possesses a general but superficial interest in any art or a branch of knowledge, is often referred to as a dilettante . Through most of the 20th century the Olympics allowed only amateur athletes to participate and this amateur code

245-475: Is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies . They have been held in the United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , New Zealand , Norway , Malaysia , Mauritius and Saudi Arabia . In republics an equivalent entity may be termed a commission of inquiry . Such an inquiry has considerable powers, typically equivalent or greater than those of a judge but restricted to

280-542: Is formally established by the Governor-General on behalf of the Crown and on the advice of government Ministers. The government decides the terms of reference, provides the funding and appoints the commissioners, who are selected on the basis of their independence and qualifications. They are never serving politicians. Royal commissions are usually chaired by one or more notable figures. Because of their quasi-judicial powers

315-534: Is known as the Kennedy Royal Commission . While these reports are often quite influential, with the government enacting some or all recommendations into law, the work of some commissions have been almost completely ignored by the government. In other cases, where the commissioner has departed from the Warranted terms, the commission has been dissolved by a superior court. Amateur Historically,

350-741: The 1984 Winter Olympics , a dispute formed over what made a player a professional. The IOC had adopted a rule that made any player who had signed an NHL contract but played less than ten games in the league eligible. However, the United States Olympic Committee maintained that any player contracted with an NHL team was a professional and therefore not eligible to play. The IOC held an emergency meeting that ruled NHL-contracted players were eligible, as long as they had not played in any NHL games. This made five players on Olympic rosters—one Austrian, two Italians and two Canadians—ineligible. Players who had played in other professional leagues—such as

385-755: The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) felt their amateur players could no longer be competitive against the Soviet team's full-time athletes and the other constantly improving European teams. They pushed for the ability to use players from professional leagues but met opposition from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). At the IIHF Congress in 1969,

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420-526: The Highland Land League . Equally there were accusations that any crofter daring to give evidence risked being singled out for reprisals from landlords. The Commission was far from unanimous in its report. Many of the recommendations were those of Napier alone. For tenants whose holdings had rental values of more than £ 6 a year he proposed security of tenure in 30-year improving leases and township organisation . For tenants whose holdings fell below

455-733: The World Hockey Association —were allowed to play. Canadian hockey official Alan Eagleson stated that the rule was only applied to the NHL and that professionally contracted players in European leagues were still considered amateurs. Murray Costello of the CAHA suggested that a Canadian withdrawal was possible. In 1986, the IOC voted to allow all athletes to compete in Olympic Games starting in 1988, but let

490-436: The terms of reference for which it was created. These powers may include subpoenaing witnesses, notably video evidences, taking evidence under oath and requesting documents. The commission is created by the head of state (the sovereign, or their representative in the form of a governor-general or governor) on the advice of the government and formally appointed by letters patent . In practice—unlike lesser forms of inquiry—once

525-635: The IIHF decided to allow Canada to use nine non-NHL professional hockey players at the 1970 World Championships in Montreal and Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada. The decision was reversed in January 1970 after IOC President Avery Brundage said that ice hockey's status as an Olympic sport would be in jeopardy if the change was made. In response, Canada withdrew from all international ice hockey competitions and officials stated that they would not return until "open competition"

560-665: The United Kingdom. The Royal Commission had five other members and published its report, the Report of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Inquiry Into the Condition of the Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland , in 1884. The other members were: The commission was a response to crofter and cottar agitation in the Highlands of Scotland . The agitation was about excessively high rents , lack of security of tenure and deprivation of de facto rights of access to land. It took

595-447: The activities of amateurs. Gregor Mendel was an amateur scientist who never held a position in his field of study. Radio astronomy was founded by Grote Reber , an amateur radio operator . Radio itself was greatly advanced by Guglielmo Marconi , a young Italian man who started out by tinkering with a coherer and a spark coil as an amateur electrician. Pierre de Fermat was a highly influential mathematician whose primary vocation

630-499: The amateur was considered to be the ideal balance between pure intent, open mind, and the interest or passion for a subject. That ideology spanned many different fields of interest. It may have its roots in the ancient Greek philosophy of amateur athletes competing in the Olympics . The ancient Greek citizens spent most of their time in other pursuits, but competed according to their natural talents and abilities. The "gentleman amateur"

665-601: The amount of land any one individual might own in Scotland, but for the moment a great advantage has been secured.". Appointments to the Commission were made by the Home Secretary , Sir William Harcourt . In Napier himself the Commission had an amateur historian and anthropologist . In Nicolson and Mackinnon it had two members with good knowledge of Gaelic . Cameron and MacKenzie were obviously landlords, and Fraser-Mackintosh

700-553: The attention of central government and, eventually, Gladstone's government appointed the Napier Commission. About three years after the commission's appointment the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 ( 49 & 50 Vict. c. 29) would be on the statute book. The act was not based on the recommendations of the commission, but the process by which the commission collected evidence, and the commission's report, did foster and inform

735-615: The breakup of the Amateur Athletic Union as a wholesale sports governing body at the Olympic level). Olympic regulations regarding amateur status of athletes were eventually abandoned in the 1990s with the exception of wrestling, where the amateur fight rules are used due to the fact that professional wrestling is largely staged with predetermined outcomes. Starting from the 2016 Summer Olympics , professionals were allowed to compete in boxing, though amateur fight rules are still used for

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770-491: The commissioners are often retired or serving judges. They usually involve research into an issue, consultations with experts both within and outside government and public consultations as well. The warrant may grant immense investigatory powers, including summoning witnesses under oath , offering of indemnities, seizing of documents and other evidence (sometimes including those normally protected, such as classified information ), holding hearings in camera if necessary and—in

805-579: The early 1880s agitation began in Skye (then in the county of Inverness ) and there it became persistent and threatened to spread throughout the Hebrides and the Highlands. Police forces attempted to enforce what landlords believed to be their rights, but the police were severely overstretched, especially in Inverness-shire, where William Ivory was Sheriff Principal . Agitation became therefore an issue needing

840-473: The form of rent strikes (withholding rent payments) and what came to be known as land raids (crofter occupation of land which landlords had given over to sheep farming and to hunting parks called deer forests). Crofters' War has been used since as a name for this agitation. In the 1870s there had been sporadic short-lived agitations in Wester Ross and Lewis (then both in the county of Ross ). In

875-632: The individual sport federations decide if they wanted to allow professionals. After the 1972 retirement of IOC President Brundage, the Olympic amateurism rules were steadily relaxed, amounting only to technicalities and lip service, until being completely abandoned in the 1990s (in the United States , the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 prohibits national governing bodies from having more stringent standards of amateur status than required by international governing bodies of respective sports. The act caused

910-460: The public, parliamentary and Cabinet debate which led, eventually to the legislation. The legislation was based on principles accepted in the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870 and Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 , principles which Napier had implicitly rejected in 1884. According to Scottish nationalist , biographer, and historian John Lorne Campbell , the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886

945-430: The tournament. Many amateurs make valuable contributions in the field of computer programming through the open source movement. Amateur dramatics is the performance of plays or musical theater , often to high standards, but lacking the budgets of professional West End or Broadway performances. Astronomy , chemistry, history, linguistics, and the natural sciences are among the fields that have benefited from

980-463: The £6-a-year threshold he recommended voluntary assisted emigration . Improving lease means a lease which includes a programme of improvement for the holding. Townships were conceived as re-establishing communal management of grazing land. Publication of the report did bring some calm to the situation in the Highlands, but this was very short lived. Crofting Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 Royal commission A royal commission

1015-495: Was a phenomenon among the gentry of Great Britain from the 17th century until the 20th century. With the start of the Age of Reason , with people thinking more about how the world works around them, (see science in the Age of Enlightenment ), things like the cabinets of curiosities , and the writing of the book The Christian Virtuoso , started to shape the idea of the gentleman amateur. He

1050-469: Was an antiquarian who, as an MP, had made himself known as someone who was sympathetic to the crofters' cause. The terms crofter , cottar and Highlands and Islands all lacked clear definition, and the Commission was left to use its own judgement as when, where and from whom to take evidence. Napier was reluctant to include Caithness , which he regarded as '"not inhabited by the Celtic race". The Commission

1085-578: Was aware however that the government wanted a fairly early report, rather than an exhaustive inquiry, in the hope that this itself would help to quell crofter agitation. The Commission began its work in the Hebrides, where rent strikes and land raids were most prevalent. It took evidence from crofters, landlords and others, and it moved on to tour much of what is now regarded as the Highlands and Islands area . Evidence from crofters exhibited remarkably consistent rhetoric, and there were accusations of coaching from

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1120-466: Was instituted. Günther Sabetzki became president of the IIHF in 1975 and helped to resolve the dispute with the CAHA. In 1976, the IIHF agreed to allow "open competition" between all players in the World Championships. However, NHL players were still not allowed to play in the Olympics, because of the unwillingness of the NHL to take a break mid-season and the IOC's amateur-only policy. Before

1155-531: Was nothing less than "the Magna Carta of the Highlands and Islands , which conferred on the small tenants there something which the peasantry of Scandinavian countries had known for generations, security of tenure and the right to the principle of compensation for their own improvements at the termination of tenancies. Nothing was suggested in the report, or contained in the Act, to restrict absentee landlordism or limit

1190-455: Was strictly enforced, Jim Thorpe was stripped of track and field medals for having taken expense money for playing baseball in 1912. Later on, the nations of the Communist Bloc entered teams of Olympians who were all nominally students , soldiers , or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis. Near the end of the 1960s,

1225-505: Was vastly interested in a particular topic, and studied, observed, and collected things and information on his topic of choice. The Royal Society in Great Britain was generally composed of these "gentleman amateurs", and is one of the reasons science today exists the way it does. A few examples of these gentleman amateurs are Francis Bacon , Isaac Newton , and Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington . Amateurism can be seen in both

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