Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
Statute A
pp. 4–5
THE CHANCELLOR AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY

Chapter II

POWERS OF THE UNIVERSITY

1. The University shall have power, for the encouragement of learning, the maintenance of good order and discipline, and the management of its affairs, to enact Ordinances and to issue Orders (whether by way of exception to an Ordinance or otherwise); provided always that no such Ordinance or Order shall contravene any provision of the Statutes.

2. The University may admit to any of the several degrees listed in or established pursuant to Statute B II a matriculated person who has done all that is required by the Statutes or Ordinances. Admission to a degree shall take place when a candidate is admitted to it in person at a Congregation of the Regent House; provided that the University may prescribe conditions under which a candidate may be admitted to a degree in absence.

3. The University shall have all the powers of a natural person to acquire, manage, charge, deal with, and dispose of property, both real and personal, and to enter into and carry out any transaction relating to its property or otherwise in connection with the management of its affairs, so that it may exercise any power and may enter into and carry out any kind of transaction without limitation.

4. The powers in Section 3 of this chapter may be exercised at the absolute discretion of the University and shall apply to investment as well as to any other activity or function of the University.

5. The powers in Section 3 of this chapter shall apply to property, both real and personal, of which the University is trustee, save that, in the case of a trust of which the University is not sole trustee, where the trust instrument creating the trust expressly provides to the contrary and less than sixty years have elapsed since that instrument came into operation, the powers shall not so apply without the consent of the other trustees.

6. The University may enact Ordinances providing for:

  1. (a)the exercise and delegation of the powers in Section 3 of this chapter; and/or
  2. (b)the collective investment of any property, real or personal, held by or for the University, with or without any other property.

7. Such Ordinances shall be read with, and shall have the same force as, these Statutes to the extent that they are consistent with these Statutes, Ordinances, and any Act of Parliament.

8. In favour of any person having dealings with the University, a certificate signed by the Registrary that any Ordinances enacted under Section 6 of this chapter have been complied with shall be conclusive.

9. The University shall have power to levy fees and other charges for any purpose or purposes connected with the University.

10. The University shall have power to accept benefactions, and shall not be prevented from accepting a benefaction even if the conditions attached thereto are at variance with the Statutes.

11. Subject to the provisions of the Statutes, the University may delegate the exercise of any of the powers specified in Sections 9 and 10 above.

12. The University shall have power to make Ordinances under which fines may be imposed by a University authority. Any such Ordinance shall state the classes of cases in which the fine may be imposed and the maximum amount which may be imposed in any one case.

13. (a) The University shall have a Great Common Seal and a Common Seal, and shall have power to give authority or to make Ordinances giving authority for either of the seals to be affixed to a document or to a class of documents. Neither seal shall be affixed without such authority, except when authority has been given in some other manner for which provision is made by Statute.

(b) The Great Common Seal shall be kept in some secure place, in a chest fastened with three locks, the keys of which shall be severally kept by the Vice-Chancellor and the Proctors; it shall not be affixed to any document except in the presence of the Vice-Chancellor or a duly appointed deputy and the Proctors or their deputies.

(c) The Common Seal shall be kept in some secure place, and shall be fastened with two keys, which shall be severally kept by the Vice-Chancellor, or by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor designated from time to time by the Vice-Chancellor, such designation to be published, and by the Registrary; it shall not be affixed to any document except in the presence of those officers or deputies appointed by them.

14. Titles of degrees may be granted honoris causa to members of the Royal Family, to British subjects who are of conspicuous merit or have done good service to the State or to the University, and to foreigners of distinction.