A court of honor is a semi-official or unofficial tribunal

Tribunal

A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....

 constituted to determine various questions of social protocol

Protocol (diplomacy)

In international politics, protocol is the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state.A protocol is a rule which guides how an activity should be performed, especially in the field of diplomacy. In diplomatic services and governmental fields of endeavor protocols are often unwritten guidelines...

, breaches of etiquette

Etiquette

Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...

, and other allegations of breaches of honor

Honour

Honour or honor is an abstract concept entailing a perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects both the social standing and the self-evaluation of an individual or corporate body such as a family, school, regiment or nation...

, or entitlement to various honors. In English the term is also an architectural term (see Cour d'Honneur

Cour d'Honneur

Cour d'Honneur is the architectural term for defining a three-sided courtyard, created when the main central block, or corps de logis, is flanked by symmetrical advancing secondary wings, containing minor rooms...

).

The courts of chivalry

The Court of Chivalry

Court of Chivalry

Her Majesty's High Court of Chivalry of England and Wales is a civil court in England. It has had jurisdiction in cases of the misuse of heraldic arms since the fourteenth century....

 was at one time also known as a "court of honour". In British law

Law of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has three legal systems. English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law, which applies in Northern Ireland, are based on common-law principles. Scots law, which applies in Scotland, is a pluralistic system based on civil-law principles, with common law...

, the court of chivalry was a court held before the Earl Marshal

Earl Marshal

Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...

 and the Lord High Constable

Lord High Constable

There are two current and one former royal offices in the United Kingdom of Lord High Constable:* The Lord High Constable of England, the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal...

; since the abolition of the office of the Lord High Constable, it has been conducted by the Earl Marshal alone. It was established by a statute

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

 13 Ric. II

Richard II of England

Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...

 c.2. This court had jurisdiction to try cases concerning contracts and other matters concerning deeds and acts of war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

. The court of chivalry also has jurisdiction over disputes regarding heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 and rights to use coats of arms. The court of chivalry is not a court of record

Court of record

In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a judicial tribunal having attributes and exercising functions independently of the person of the magistrate designated generally to hold it, and proceeding according to the course of common law, its acts and proceedings being enrolled for a...

, and as such has no power to enforce its decisions by fine or imprisonment

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

; as such it became relatively disused. It is not obsolete, however, and cases have been brought before the court of chivalry as recently as 1954.

Dueling

A court of honor can also be a military court to investigate and issue judgments concerning acts or omissions which are considered to be unbecoming to an "officer

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 and a gentleman

Gentleman

The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...

", but which do not rise to the level where they are considered crimes triable under military law

Military law

Military justice is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states use special judicial and other arrangements to enforce those laws, while others use...

. A court of honor is also the name given to a tribunal of noblemen

Aristocracy (class)

The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...

 who would decide whether a grievance over a point of honor rose to the level warranting a duel

Duel

A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...

, and if so set rules for its fair conduct.

In Scouting

In Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

, a court of honor is a ceremony in which ranks and other awards are presented to the Scouts who earned them. In the South African Scout Association

South African Scout Association

The South African Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognized Scouting association in South Africa. Scouting began in the United Kingdom in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell and rapidly spread to South Africa, with the first Scout troops appearing in...

 and Scouting Ireland

Scouting Ireland

Scouting Ireland is the World Organization of the Scout Movement-recognised Scouting association in the Republic of Ireland, although it also has Scout Groups in Northern Ireland. Scouting Ireland is a voluntary, non-formal educational movement for young people...

, a Court of Honour consists of all the Patrol Leaders and it assists in the running of the troop. This is known as a Patrol Leader's Conference (PLC) in the US.