A university court is an administrative body of a

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and other countries. In most older universities of England and Wales, the court is part of the governance structure and acts as a forum for local stakeholders from government, industry and the community to interact with the university. In Scotland, the court is the university's supreme governing body, analogous to the council in other British universities. At Oxford and Cambridge universities, the court was a local

law court Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

England and Wales

In most older universities of England and Wales, and some newer universities the court is one of the three bodies in the governance structure, along with the

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

(equivalent to the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

) and

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(responsible for academic affairs). This model developed in the civic universities of England, starting with the Victoria University in 1880. The court was original the overall governing body, consisting of a large (40 or more at the Victoria University, over a hundred at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, representing the 'great and good' of local society as well as other stakeholders) with council as the executive governing body. Court's powers usually included legislation and sometimes appointment of the vice-chancellor and other officers, and the election of the chancellor. However, these were almost always merely confirmation of proposals from council, with contested chancellor elections unknown outside of Oxford. This model has evolved with councils becoming the single governing body in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 21st century, court has become a forum for local stakeholders from government, industry and the community to interact with the university. However, some courts retain the power to elect the chancellor, and the appointment of

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. He and Smith came to national attention in the 1980s for ...

as chancellor of

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

was blocked by the university court in 2014.

Oxford and Cambridge

Unlike in most universities, where the court is an assembly in the governance structure, at the ancient English universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

these were legal courts, the Court of the Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and the Cambridge University Chancellor's Court respectively. At Oxford University, the judge of the chancellor's court was the vice-chancellor, who was his deputy or assessor; the court had civil jurisdiction from 1244, to the exclusion of the king's courts, in all matters and suits wherein a scholar or privileged person of the university is one of the parties, except in actions relating to freehold. It also had, from 1290, jurisdiction over all injuries and trespasses against the peace, mayhem and

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

excepted, but this may have been removed by the 19th century Summary Jurisdiction Acts. The criminal jurisdiction of Cambridge University in cases where any person not a member of the university is a party has ceased, and its jurisdiction over 'light women' (i.e.

prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...

), which was founded on a charter and statute of Elizabeth, was taken away in 1894 by a private act of that year, when an earlier act dealing with them and applicable till then only to Oxford University, was extended to Cambridge University. Before 1891, women of 'light character', who had been convicted of consorting with or soliciting members of the university ''in statu pupillari'', were detained in a house of correction called the ' Spinning House', but in that year a conviction was held bad. All jurisdiction over non-university matters was removed from both the Oxford and Cambridge courts by the

Administration of Justice Act 1977 The Administration of Justice Act 1977 (c. 38) is an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Part I - General Section 6 - Temporary additional judges for Employment Appeal Tribunal This section was ...

Durham and Newcastle

Neither of the pre-Victorian English universities (Durham and London), which pre-date the civic university movement, had courts at their foundation. During the 20th century both had courts created of less than 30 members with charge of federal finances and property for a period, but these were subsequently abolished as their federal structures changed. The court of

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

was created in 1937 by statutes made under the University of Durham Act 1935 and abolished in 1963 under the Universities of Durham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Act 1963, which separated the Newcastle division of the federal university to create

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

. Durham's court was similar to the courts of the ancient universities of Scotland or the councils of most British universities, having responsibility for finance and the administration of the federal university's property and consisting of between 24 and 27 members, with significant internal membership but a majority from outside the university. The other governance bodies at the time at Durham were the senate and

convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a specia ...

, with convocation being a large body (of graduates of the university) that filled the role of the court at most British universities. As with the current council of Durham University, the Dean of Durham (the head of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

) was an ex-officio lay member of the court. After it became independent from Durham,

retained a convocation (following Durham's model) and established a court (under the civic university model). While Newcastle's convocation is responsible for appointing the chancellor, this is on the nomination of court and council in joint session, and it is court that has the power to request changes to the statutes from the privy council (on the recommendation of university's council).

London

The court of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

was created in 1929 by statutes made under the University of London Act 1926. As with Durham, this was a smaller body with responsibility for finance and property of the federal university, originally with 16 members but rising to 24 in 1981. The abolition of both court and senate and their replacement by a single executive council was recommended by a report in 1991 and effected by the University of London Act 1994.

Scotland

The university courts were first established for the

ancient universities The ancient universities are seven British and Irish medieval universities and early modern universities that were founded before 1600. Four of these are located in Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and University of St Andrews, St Andre ...

by the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 and they are responsible for the

finances Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money, currency, assets and liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business Administration wich study the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of an o ...

and

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

of each university. Each university, subject to approval by the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

, determines the constitution of its court, with members coming from within each university, the local community and beyond. At an ancient university the court is chaired by the rector, who ranks third after the

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

, is elected by all the matriculated students of each university. Members are also appointed by the general council,

academic senate An academic senate, sometimes termed faculty senate, academic board or simply senate, is a governing body in some universities and colleges, typically with responsibility for academic matters and primarily drawing its membership from the academic ...

and

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. At more modern universities there is usually a

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

convenor The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

appointed along lines similar to a

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

in a

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

. The

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the students' representative council is usually a member and lay members are co-opted onto the court.

References