Talk:Schepen

Merge proposition
Hi. This page should be merged into alderman as a section of it. Bradipus 17:02, 15 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Why?--MWAK (talk) 16:30, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

I definitely think that it should not be merged. In Dutch history the role of the "schepen" was sometimes that of a magistrate rather than alderman. If the terms were equivalent, this would be an option - but that's not the case for the Netherlands. Schildewaert (talk) 20:49, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Schöffe
While both words may have the same origin, "Schöffe" doesn't refer to a "local government official" (at least not nowadays in Germany) but to a nonprofessional judge in criminal procedures. Similar to the juries in UK and USA but instead of deciding only about guilt they have nearly the same rights as normal judges. 84.162.116.217 (talk) 20:54, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Absolutely true. I am a "Schöffe" myself, and I can confirm the definition of "non professional" judge. If my English were better, I would correct the article.

--95.119.74.40 (talk) 20:05, 27 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, but this article is about a specific office in Dutch-speaking countries. The German office seems to be related, but then a separate article should be created for it under the heading for the German word. The word "schepen" is not an English word and it only applies to the office in Dutch speaking countries. "Schoffe" does not belong in an article about "schepenen". You are invited to create a separate article about it. 71.16.164.3 (talk) 12:08, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Not just in Dutch
This article more like describe the situation in Dutch speaking countries, but it has more meaning in most of the countries of Europe.--Juan de Vojníkov (talk) 22:55, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree that the addition of German and Czech terms complicates this and puts it beyond the scope of the original article. It makes no sense for German and Czech references to be crammed into this article designed for Dutch-speaking countries. "Schepen" is not an English word. It's a Dutch word. These other non-Dutch references should each go into a separate section or page under the appropriate English equivalent of "schepen" -- but what would that be? Not "alderman", surely. There appears to be no English word that would serve as the title of an English page. However, it shouldn't be the Dutch word. I think we need separate pages for "Schoffe", etc. Schildewaert (talk) 19:23, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Something has gone seriously wrong with this article
"Schepen" is not an English word!! There is no English word for "schoffen, "scabini", "schepen". This site was created to refer to the concept of "schepen" in Dutch speaking countries. It is not appropriate for German, Italian, Czech, etc. to link here. They should create their own pages in the English Wikipedia. Schildewaert (talk) 20:49, 23 September 2009 (UTC)

I've tried to remedy the problem by creating separate English pages for the German, Italian and Czech equivalents that bizarrely were linked to this page. This page is only for "schepen", not the other similar terms in other languages. Schildewaert (talk) 15:48, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Requirements for candidacy
It has been made clear on the Netherlands-equivalent article of the College van burgemeester en wethouders that both elected town councillors and the general population are eligible to be elected wethouders since a 2002 reform. I think it'd be worth adding to this article whether the same is true for schepen in Belgium. Is it required that schepen be town councillors to be elected to the college van burgemeester en schepenen, or is any town voter eligible to be candidates for the college? --Criticalthinker (talk) 12:09, 3 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Since this has been answered, I have some advice about this line:
 * "Modern schepen are usually translated as "alderman", but unlike Anglosphere aldermen, schepenen serve together with the burgomaster as the executive power of the municipal government and not just elected councilors."
 * The anglosphere equivalent - particularly in the United States - would simply be head of a municipal department. It is correct that there is no widely-held term for this beyond that, but that's what it's directly comparative to: a city counciler who is in charge of a city department. This is a rare type of local government in the United States, now, but we do still have it: it's called the city commmission form of local governance. A good example of this is Portland, Oregon. It's the largest city in the country that still operates under this form. Criticalthinker (talk) 03:27, 8 July 2024 (UTC)