Thought this was interesting from a website I happened upon:
* As has been pointed out many times on this site, there was no governing body among the early Christians. Today's governing body of Jehovah's witnesses is more closely modeled on the Jewish Sanhedrin. One authority defines "Sanhedrin" this way: Sanhedrin, A sanhedrin is a ‘Council’, usually a governing council. ‘The’ Sanhedrin is the governing council of Jerusalem, presided over by the High Priest, the ultimate civil and criminal court, and governing body, of Judea, answerable only to the Roman governor. The term is derived from the Greek term Synedrion.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, says in part regarding the Jewish Sanhedrin:
The Sanhedrin as a body claimed powers that lesser Jewish courts did not have. As such, they were the only ones who could try the king, extend the boundaries of the Temple and Jerusalem, and were the ones to whom all questions of law were finally put. . .
The Sanhedrin is mentioned frequently in the Gospels. According to the Gospels, the council conspired to have Jesus killed by paying one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, thirty pieces of silver in exchange for delivery of Jesus into their hands. When the Sanhedrin was unable to provide evidence that Jesus had committed a capital crime, the Gospels state that witnesses came forward and accused the Nazarene of blasphemy — a capital crime under Mosaic law. But, because the Sanhedrin was not of Roman authority, it could not condemn criminals to death, according to John 18:31. This did not prevent them from doing so at other times; Acts 6:12 records them ordering the stoning of Saint Stephen and also Jesus half-brother, James the Just according to Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.1 . . .
By the end of the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin achieved its quintessential position, legislating on all aspects of Jewish religious and political life within the parameters laid down by Biblical and Rabbinic tradition.
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70, the Sanhedrin was re-established in Yavneh with reduced authority. The imperial Roman government and legislation still recognized it as the ultimate authority in Jewish religious matters.