STAR CHAMBER • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Star Chamber

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/stɑr tʃˈeɪmbər/ Listen

noun

Star-chamber, Star chamber n.

(Eng. Hist.) An ancient high court exercising jurisdiction in certain cases, mainly criminal, which sat without the intervention of a jury. It consisted of the king's council, or of the privy council only with the addition of certain judges. It could proceed on mere rumor or examine witnesses; it could apply torture. It was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641.

Hence: (Metaphorical) Any court, committee, or other tribunal which exercises arbitrary and unaccountable power, or uses unfair or illegal methods, in investigation or judgment of persons.

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Etymology of 'Star Chamber'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Star chamber" Quotes from Famous Books

... during these so-called Wars of the Roses, it was quite easy for the Kings to increase their royal power. And by the end of the fifteenth century, England was a strongly centralised country, ruled by Henry VII of the House of Tudor, whose famous Court of Justice, the "Star Chamber" of terrible memory, suppressed all attempts on the part of the surviving nobles to regain their old influence upon the government of the ...

— The Story of Mankind • Hendrik van Loon

... is assembled by order of a commanding officer to inquire into matters of an intricate nature, for his information; but has no power of adjudication whatever: but too like the Star Chamber. ...

— The Sailor's Word-Book • William Henry Smyth

... complaint shall at any time be dismissed because of the absence of direct damage to the complainant.' Even the Venetian council often provided for a certain and described hole in the wall through which the anonymous bringers of charges should thrust their accusations. Even the court of star chamber was known to dismiss inquisitions when it found that no wrong had been done. But the statute of interstate commerce appears to issue lettres de cachet against anything in the shape of a railway company—to scatter them broadcast, and to invite any one who happens to have leisure to ...

— The Railroad Question - A historical and practical treatise on railroads, and - remedies for their abuses • William Larrabee