Proctor (a variant of ''

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...

'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawyers, and the King's (or Queen's) Proctor is a senior government lawyer. * In religion, a proctor represents the clergy in

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

dioceses. * In education, proctor is the name of university officials in certain universities. In the United States and some other countries, the word "proctor" is frequently used to describe someone who supervises an examination (i.e. a supervisor or

invigilator Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

) or

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

Law

England

A proctor was a legal practitioner in the ecclesiastical and

admiralty courts Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. These courts were distinguished from the common law courts and courts of equity because they applied "civil law" derived from

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

, instead of English common law and equity. Historically, proctors were licensed by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

to undertake the duties that were performed in

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

courts by attorneys and in the courts of

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

by solicitors. Proctors were attached to the

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildi ...

, which performed a similar function for civil law or "civilian" advocates (the doctors) to that of the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...

for

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

s. Reforms in the mid-19th century removed the monopoly of the civilian doctors and proctors in the family and admiralty courts, leaving only the ecclesiastical

Court of Arches The Arches Court, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. Its equivalent in the Province of York is the Chancery Court. It takes its name from the street-level ...

. Later, the

Judicature Acts In the history of the courts of England and Wales, the Judicature Acts were a series of Acts of Parliament, beginning in the 1870s, which aimed to fuse the hitherto split system of courts of England and Wales. The first two Acts were the Supr ...

of 1873 and 1875, which created the Supreme Court of Judicature, combined the three roles (proctor, attorney and solicitor) into the common profession of "solicitor of the Supreme Court".

King/Queen’s Proctor

The King/Queen’s Proctor is the historical name for an official who acted for the Crown in certain courts in England. The modern name of the office is HM Procurator-General, and this office has for many years been combined with that of the

Treasury Solicitor The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Service. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor. This office go ...

, whose formal title is His/Her Majesty's Procurator-General and Treasury Solicitor. In the admiralty courts, the King/Queen’s Proctor historically acted in all causes concerning the King or Queen. A proctor or procurator was an officer who, in conjunction with the King/Queen’s Proctor, acted as the attorney or solicitor in all causes concerning the Lord High Admiral's affairs in the

High Court of Admiralty Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

and other courts. In

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

and divorce courts, this official acted as the proctor or solicitor representing the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. In petitions of divorce, or for declaration of nullity of marriage, the King/Queen’s Proctor may, under direction of the Attorney General, intervene in the suit for the purpose of arguing any question that the court deems expedient to have argued. The powers are set out in section 8 of the

Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (c 18) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom governing divorce law and marriage in England and Wales. Contents The act contains four parts: # Divorce, Nullity and Other Matrimonial Suits # Financial Reli ...

, and include the power to show cause against a

decree nisi A decree nisi or rule nisi () is a court order that will come into force at a future date unless a particular condition is met. Unless the condition is met, the ruling becomes a decree absolute (rule absolute), and is binding. Typically, the condi ...

being made absolute, usually on receipt of information indicating that the court has been misled into granting a decree.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, the two groups of legal practitioners,

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

s (similar to

s) and Proctors (similar to

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

s) existed since 1833 until the Justice Law No. 44 of 1973, created a single group of practitioners, known as attorneys-at-law. There were two types of proctors; proctors of the Supreme Court and proctors of a district court. The former could practice in any court, while the latter was allowed to practice in the lower courts in a specific district. The Attorney General was authorised a proctor from each district to serve as the Crown Proctor to instruct or brief crown counsel on civil and criminal cases in district courts, courts of requests and police courts on behalf of the Crown.

Australia

Proctor is a term that survives in Western Australia and in South Australia. Until it was amended in 1992 and later superseded by the Legal Profession Act in 2008, the Legal Practitioners Act 1893 (WA) provided for legal practitioners in Western Australia to be admitted and entitled to practice as "practitioners". That term was then defined as "a person admitted and entitled to practice as a barrister, solicitor, attorney and proctor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, or in any one or more of these capacities". Whilst it was theoretically possible to apply for admission in any of these capacities, as there was no separate qualification for such separate admissions, the standard practice (pre 1992) was for all persons to be admitted as barristers, solicitors and proctors of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Many survive today. South Australian legislation still provides as of December 2019 that a person admitted as a Solicitor to the Supreme Court of South Australia is also both a Proctor, and an Attorney, of that court.

United States

The American colonies continued the British use of the term proctor in admiralty for attorneys who were admitted to specialized

admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

and

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

bars. With the unification of the federal Admiralty Rules with the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. The FRCP are promulgated by the United States Supreme Court pursuant to the Rules Enabling ...

in 1966, attorneys practicing admiralty law before the federal courts ceased to be formally called proctors, though the term remains in unofficial use.

Ecclesiastical

In the context of the Church of England, a proctor represents clergy in

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 speci ...

. The Lower Houses of the Convocations of Canterbury and York include ''specially elected'' proctors (the deans of cathedrals and the Dean of either Jersey or Guernsey) and ''directly elected'' proctors (representing beneficed and licensed clergy, clergy with permission to officiate, archdeacons, clergy holding office in a cathedral, religious communities, universities and institutions of theological education).

Education

High university official

In some universities, a proctor is a high official.

Cambridge University

The early history of the office at Cambridge is obscure, but it seems that the Proctors have always represented the colleges in University proceedings. In the past the Proctors administered the university's finances, acted as examiners for all candidates for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, prosecuted anyone suspected of unfair trading, and had a multitude of other tasks. At present their functions are twofold: (1) taking part in all university ceremonials, and (2) enforcing discipline in the case of members of the University who are ''in statu pupillari'' (undergraduates, Bachelors of Arts and Bachelors of Laws).

=Election

= At

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

the Proctors are nominated every May by colleges identified in a predetermined cycle. They then serve for one year from 1 October, assisted by their Deputy Proctors and two Pro-Proctors. They must have been a member of the Senate for three years, and must have resided two years at the university. The two Pro-Proctors are not, as at Oxford, nominated by the Proctors, but are also elected by the Regent House on the nomination of the colleges, each college having the right to nominate a Pro-Proctor for the year next before that in which it nominates the Proctor (Grace of 26 February 1863). Two additional Pro-Proctors are also elected by the Senate each year, on the nomination of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors, to assist the latter in the maintenance of discipline (Grace of 6 June 1878). The Proctors for 2020–2021 are Dr Karen Ottewell (Senior Proctor) of Emmanuel College and Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes (Junior Proctor) of Clare Hall. The Deputies to the Proctors are Dr Gemma Burgess (Deputy to the Senior Proctor) of St Edmund's College and Mr Francis Knights (Deputy to the Junior Proctor) of Fitzwilliam College. The Pro-Proctors are Dr John Fawcett (Senior Pro-Proctor) of Churchill College and Rev'd Dr Mark Smith (Junior Pro-Proctor) of Clare College. Mr Timothy Milner of Darwin College is additional Pro-Proctor for Ceremonial. Mr Gordon Chesterman of St Edmund's College is additional Pro-Proctor (2020–21). The first hundred years of Proctorial records are mostly lost, but the Proctors' Office web site has a more or less complete list of the Proctors since 1314.

=Ceremonial functions

= The Proctors are ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' members of the Board of Scrutiny, the Board of Examinations, and various other bodies. Their presence is essential at all Congregations of the Regent House, at which the Senior Proctor reads all the Graces and the Junior Proctor takes the vote of the Regent House. If any Grace is opposed by any member of the Senate saying ''non-placet'', the Proctors take the votes of those present and announce the result. Graces are offered not only for making changes in University Statutes and Ordinances and for appointing examiners and the like, but also for granting degrees. When a degree is to be taken, the college of the candidate presents a ''supplicat'' or petition for the degree; this petition is approved by the Regent House, if and when they have satisfied themselves that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions, and is read at the Congregation by the Senior Proctor: these ''supplicats'' are practically never opposed, but Graces for new Statutes and Ordinances are frequently opposed, and on very important occasions such as the election of a new Chancellor many hundreds of non-resident members of the Senate come up to record their votes.

=Disciplinary functions

= The proctors' powers as to discipline have a very long history. As far as concerns members of the university they have authority to impose certain fines for minor offences, such as not wearing academic dress on occasions when it is ordered, and also to order a student not to be out of their college after a certain hour for a certain number of days ("gating"). For more serious offences, the proctor generally reports the matter to the authorities of the offender's college to be dealt with by them, or as a last resort brings the offender before the university court of discipline, which has power to rusticate or send down (expel). The power of the proctors over persons who are not members of the university dates from charters granted by

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

and

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

, which empowered the university authorities to search for undesirable characters, men and women, rogues, vagabonds, and other ''personas de male suspectas'' (persons suspected of evil), and punish them by imprisonment or banishment. In recent times this power was often exercised with respect to prostitutes. The proctors promenaded the streets attended by their servants (the

bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Great St Mary's Church, deemed to be the centre of the University; Proctors now do not have power of arrest.) If occasion arose, the proctor could arrest a suspected woman and have her taken to the Spinning House (for which

Thomas Hobson Thomas Hobson may refer to * Thomas Hobson (postal carrier) (c. 1544–1631), English postal carrier * Thomas Hobson (actor) (born 1982), American actor * Thomas Hobson (cricketer) (born 1994), South African cricketer {{hndis, name=Hobson, ...

the carrier had left an endowment); the next day the woman was brought before the

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

, who had power to commit her to the Spinning House; as a general rule the sentence was for no longer than three weeks. For this purpose the Vice-Chancellor sat ''

in camera ''In camera'' (; Latin: "in a chamber"). is a legal term that means ''in private''. The same meaning is sometimes expressed in the English equivalent: ''in chambers''. Generally, ''in-camera'' describes court cases, parts of it, or process wh ...

'' and the jurisdiction had nothing to do with that of the vice-chancellor's court. In 1898 attention was called to this procedure by the case of a girl named Daisy Hopkins, who was arrested and committed to the Spinning House. Application was made on her behalf to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

for a writ of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'', and when the application came on it appeared that there had been a technical irregularity (the prisoner not having been formally charged when brought before the Vice-Chancellor); so the writ was granted and the prisoner released. She afterwards brought an action against the proctor, which failed. It was then decided to abolish the practice of hearing these cases ''in camera''. The whole practice was, however, objected to by the authorities of the town, and after a conference an agreement was reached: the proctorial jurisdiction over persons not members of the university was abolished (1904). The Junior Proctor has special responsibility for university societies and for resolving disputes arising from the

Cambridge Students' Union Cambridge Students' Union, known as Cambridge SU, is the university-wide representative body for students at the University of Cambridge, England. Its predecessor union was known as Cambridge University Students' Union or CUSU until its dissolu ...

. The Special Pro-Proctor for Motor Vehicles is responsible for licensing the keeping and using of motor vehicles (other than mopeds) within of Great St Mary's Church by University students who have not yet reached MA status and are in residence in term or in the Long Vacation period of residence. The Motor Proctor also has the power to impose a fine of up to £175 on students breaching the regulations on the keeping and using of motor vehicles.

Oxford University

The Proctors of

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

are senior officers of the University who are responsible for enforcing University discipline and sanctions, for handling complaints against the University, and for conducting public examinations (often at the

Examination Schools The Examination Schools of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford, England. The building was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson (1835–1924), who also designed several other University buildings, such as much of Brasen ...

). They are elected annually by the

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

. Two Proctors are elected each year: a Senior and a Junior Proctor. The reform of the university statutes in 2002 reorganised the disciplinary system of the University and reduced the powers of the Proctors. However, they still act as

ombudsmen An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

for the University, and handle formal complaints by and against students (although more minor disciplinary matters are usually dealt with by the

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of each college). They have the power to issue

fines Fines may refer to: * Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality * Fine (penalty) * Fine, a dated term for a premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term *Fines, ore or other products with a s ...

to members of the University for numerous offences, including

cheat Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate cr ...

ing in examinations. Prior to 2003, the Proctors were aided in disciplinary matters by the

Oxford University Police The Oxford University Police, or Oxford University Constables (popularly known as Bulldogs or Bullers), was the private police force of the University of Oxford between 1829 and 2003. They carried warrant cards and were empowered to act as police ...

(who wore

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

s and were generally known as "Bulldogs"); the University Police were a private constabulary with full powers of arrest within the precincts of the University and within four miles (6 km) of any University building.p194-5, Bruce, Alastair and Calder, Julian, ''Keepers of the Kingdom'' (Cassell, 1987), However, after receiving public criticism in 2002 for their exercise of authority over citizens of Oxford who were not members of the University,University police branded 'too powerful'
, ''Oxford Times'', 22 May 2002 the force was disbanded by the University Council in 2003, due partly to the excessive expense of complying with new Government requirements on police training and complaints procedures.
, Oxford University Gazette, 27 March 2003 Today, the Constables have been redesignated as "Proctors' Officers" and continue to serve under the Proctors, but no longer have the powers of police constables.

Examination supervisor

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and some other countries, a proctor can be any teacher or other staff member at a university, secondary school, or even elementary school when they are supervising the administration of a test or examination; i.e. the role referred to as an "''invigilator''" in British, Canadian, Australian and South African English.

Online proctoring

Online proctoring is the monitoring or invigilation of assessments taken remotely. Online proctors verify test-taker identity and monitor to prevent cheating using a variety of methods, including live, record-and-review, and automated proctoring. Online proctoring services work with colleges, universities, corporations, and other certification providers to offer identity verification services and assessment monitoring. Demand for online proctoring has expanded in recent years as a result of rapid expansions in online learning. In 2006, the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

waived the so-called “50 percent rule,” which stipulated that U.S. students in online degree programs could only receive federal student aid if half of their programs were campus-based. Today, one in three students take at least one course online during their college career. In addition, instructors in face-to-face classes can also administer exams online. Higher education institutions around the world make use of online proctoring for tens of thousands of exams. The 17 campuses of the University of North Carolina proctor between 30,000 and 40,000 exams online per year. At the fully online

Western Governors University Western Governors University (WGU) is a private online university based in Millcreek, Utah. The university uses an online competency-based learning model. Degrees awarded by WGU are accredited by the NWCCU, ACBSP, CAEP, CAHIIM, and CCNE. T ...

, 30,000 exams are proctored online each month. Recent estimates suggest that there are about fifteen providers of online proctoring.

Research on online proctoring

Research suggests that students are equally likely to cheat online as they are in person. However, one study found that nearly three-quarters of college students hold the perception that cheating online is easier than cheating in person. In 2016, USA Today reported on research by Examity which suggests that 6% of students violate rules for proctored online exams. Some online proctoring providers give colleges and universities access to anonymized, aggregated data on proctoring and cheating rates. These analytics tools allow institutions to measure their violation rates against other schools, as well as to track incidents by time of year and type of course, among other metrics.

References

{{Reflist "How does online proctoring work?"
Examus

External links

Cambridge University Proctors
Education in England Anglican ecclesiastical offices English law Legal professions Terminology of the University of Cambridge

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