English term
Ukraine
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Native in: Russian 
, Ukrainian
Works in: English to Russian, English to Ukrainian, Russian to German, and 1 more.
placement of a comma
Please tell me, if I need putting of a comma before "adopted within their competence.".
Is there a general rule?
MTIA
| 4 +6 | not really necessary |
Tony M
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Non-PRO (3): Barbara Carrara, Rachel Fell, Tony M
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Responses
not really necessary
"adopted within their competence" simply qualifies "decisions", and there is thus no need to separate it from the preceding phrase.
However, there is a comma earlier in your text that might be better repalced with 'and':
"Comply with the requirements of the Articles of Association, the terms of the Company’s Incorporation Agreement..."
As I understand it, this is intended to mean "Comply with the requirements of the Articles of Association and also comply with the terms of the Company’s Incorporation Agreement..." — in which case, it would be better to use 'and' insetad of a comma here, which tends to lead one to expect that the remaining listed items are simply a continuation of the same idea, which I believe not to be the case?
With a long list like this, where many commas occur, it is often difficult to keep track of the intended reading; it may help (just in your head!) to replace the 'main' list commas with semi-colons, which could then help see where other commas may or may not be required.
I see this replacement of 'and' by a comma a great deal in other languages, and it seems to be creeping into EN usage, though I feel it is unwise, as it usually only hinders, rather than helps, comprehension. It is a particular trap for non-native speakers writing in EN to watch out for.
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Note added at 20 mins (2020-11-08 11:11:21 GMT)
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Yes, Mark makes a good additional point: there are in fact 2 list items here ('comply...' and 'implement'), and just as I have said above, that comma before implement should be followed by 'and', in order to aid comprehension.
| agree |
Anastasia Andriani
: excellent explanation, Tony
22 mins
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Thanks, Anastasia!
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| agree |
Sheila Wilson
54 mins
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Thanks, Sheila!
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| agree |
Liane Lazoski
1 hr
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Thanks, Liane!
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| agree |
Victoria Britten
2 hrs
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Thanks, Victoria!
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: yes, "and" would be preferable
2 hrs
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Thanks, Yvonne!
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| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
5 hrs
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Thanks, Tina!
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Discussion
Phil is correct, this actually doesn't mean anything. It could be that you need to check your use of preposition or try a relative pronoun or something, but the whole phrase is a bit clumsy.
Also, I don't think the comma in the first line works. I would use "and" here instead, because both of the noun phrases look like they belong to the same verb ....
I.E.
"To comply with A and B, and to implement the...." or something.
Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, Bryan A. Garner, 2nd. Ed., p. 185.
2. "Adopted within their competence" should read "Adopted within the ambit/scope/exercise of their competence".
3. The comma is unnecessary.