Royal commission
A royal commission 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 the terms of reference for which it was created. These powers may include subpoenaing witnesses, taking evidence under oath and requesting documents.