In England's Oxbridge such a court carries out limited judicial functions; whereas in Scotland it is a university's supreme governing body, analogous to a board of directors or a board of trustees.
In the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, courts of inferior jurisdiction, administering principles of justice founded on the canon and civil law, but later defined and limited by the common law.
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.
[1] All jurisdiction over non-university matters was removed from both the Oxford and Cambridge courts by the Administration of Justice Act 1977.
Members are also appointed by the general council, academic senate and local authority.