Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER II
pp. 206–207
MATRICULATION, RESIDENCE, ADMISSION TO DEGREES, DISCIPLINE

SUMMARY COURT

Composition of Court.

1. A court, called the Summary Court, shall be established under the provisions of Statute B, VI, 17 and shall, except as provided in Regulations 6 and 7, consist of a Chairman, one member of the Regent House, and one member of the University in statu pupillari. Two members of the Court shall constitute a quorum. Every finding of the Court and every decision on sentence shall require the concurrence of at least two members of the Court.

Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

2. The Chairman and a Deputy Chairman, both of whom shall be legally qualified members of the Senate, shall be appointed by the Vice-Chancellor in the Michaelmas Term in each year to serve for one year from 1 January following their appointment.

Appointment of Court.

3. The Chairman of the Summary Court shall as soon as may be convenient in the Lent Term appoint the other two members of the Summary Court to serve until 31 December following their appointment by causing lots to be drawn from among the members of panel (b) and panel (c) for the Court of Discipline.

4. A person charged before the Court shall be entitled to object for good cause to any member of the Court. The Chairman alone shall rule on any such objection and his or her decision shall be final.

5. The Deputy Chairman shall act in place of the Chairman on any occasion when the Chairman is unable or unwilling to act. If any member of the Court other than the Chairman is unable or unwilling to serve for the proceedings of a particular case, or if the Chairman allows an objection under Regulation 4 to a member of the Court other than the Chairman, the Chairman shall appoint by lot a member of the appropriate panel to replace such member.

6. If the Chairman is able to appoint only one of the other members of the Court in accordance with these regulations, the Court shall proceed as a Court of two members.

7. If the Chairman is unable to appoint any other member of the Court in accordance with these regulations the Chairman alone shall constitute the Court and shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Regulation 1, have power to exercise any of the powers of the Court.

Clerk.

8. The Registrary, or a duly appointed deputy, shall be Clerk of the Summary Court.

Summons.

9. When the University Advocate determines that a charge shall be heard by the Summary Court, he or she shall send to the Clerk of the Court, for service on the person charged,

  1. (a)a notice informing the person charged of the offence he or she is alleged to have committed and stating the amount of any fine (not exceeding £175) and of any order for compensation (not exceeding £250) which the University Advocate would consider appropriate if the offence were proved,
  2. (b)a statement of the facts which would be placed before the Summary Court by or on behalf of the Advocate if the person charged did not appear before the Court.

10. The Clerk of the Court shall thereupon serve on the person charged copies of the notice and the statement sent by the University Advocate and shall in writing inform him or her of

  1. (a)the date, time, and place fixed for the hearing;
  2. (b)the powers of the Court, under Regulation 11 below, to adjudicate in the absence of the person charged.
  3. The Clerk shall invite the person charged to state in writing
  4. (i)whether he or she admits the offence alleged;
  5. (ii)whether he or she disputes the amount of the fine or compensation specified in the University Advocate's notice;
  6. (iii)whether he or she proposes to attend the hearing;
  7. and, if the person charged does not propose to attend the hearing, shall invite him or her to submit in writing any facts which it is desired to draw to the attention of the Court.
Conduct of hearing.

11. If the Court is satisfied that the procedures prescribed in Regulations 9 and 10 have been carried out, it may proceed to hear and dispose of the case in the absence of the person charged, whether or not the Advocate is also absent; provided that

  1. (a)the Court shall not allow any statement of the facts to be made by or on behalf of the University Advocate other than the statement served on the person charged in accordance with Regulations 9 and 10;
  2. (b)the Court shall not impose a fine or order compensation exceeding the amounts specified by the University Advocate under Regulation 9(a);
  3. (c)the Court may adjourn the proceedings at any time and require the person charged to attend.

12. The Court may sit either in public or in camera at the discretion of the Chairman.

Reference to Court of Discipline.

13. The Court shall have power when hearing a case as a court of first instance to determine at any time, subject to the consent of the person charged, not to proceed with the hearing and to require the University Advocate to bring the charge and present the case before the Court of Discipline.

Maximum fine.

14. The Court shall not in respect of a single offence impose on any person a fine exceeding £175 or order compensation exceeding £250.

Appeals from decisions of the Court.

15. Any person found by the Court sitting as a court of first instance to have committed an offence shall, if he or she wishes to appeal under Statute B, VI, 17 to the Court of Discipline, deliver to the Clerk of the Summary Court, within twenty-eight days after notice of the decision of the Court, written application for leave to appeal.

Sentence to have immediate effect.

16. Any sentence imposed by the Court shall have immediate effect; provided that the Chairman of the Court and the Chairman of the Court of Discipline shall each have power to suspend a sentence until the conclusion of the proceedings by the Court of Discipline of any appeal against a finding of the Summary Court.

Appeals to the Court.

17. As a court of appeal, the Summary Court shall hear appeals by persons who come within the jurisdiction of the Court of Discipline under Statute B, VI, 11 and upon whom a University authority (other than the Court of Discipline) has, under Statute, or in accordance with an Ordinance or with a rule made under an Ordinance, imposed a sentence, provided that such a person has delivered to the Clerk of the Summary Court, within twenty-eight days after notice of the sentence imposed by the University authority concerned, written notice of appeal to the Court; and the Court shall have power to quash the finding or to vary the sentence within the limits of the power of the authority in question, and its decision shall be final.

18. If a person charged or an appellant appears before the Court, he or she may be represented at the proceedings only by a resident member of the Regent House or by a resident member of the University in statu pupillari.

19. Except in so far as the procedure of the Court is determined under the provisions of Statute B, VI and of these regulations, it shall be determined by the Chairman.