Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, and the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court.

Related Topics:
Courts of England and Wales - Lord Chancellor - Court of Appeal - High Court

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Originally, the three high common law courts, the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of the King's (or Queen's) Bench, and the Court of the Exchequer, each had their own Chief Justice. That of the Exchequer Court was styled as the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and that of the Common Pleas was Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, leaving the head of the King's (or Queen's) Bench to be known simply as the Lord Chief Justice. The courts, however, were combined in 1875, leaving a single Chief Justice.

Related Topics:
Common law - Court of Common Pleas - Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas

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There is also a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. The Lord Chief Justice's equivalent in Scotland is the Lord President of the Court of Session, who also holds the post of Lord Justice-General in the High Court of Justiciary.

Related Topics:
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland - Lord President of the Court of Session - Lord Justice-General - High Court of Justiciary

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Presently the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the Lord Phillips of Worth Maltravers, who suceeded Lord Woolf on October 1 2005.

Related Topics:
Lord Phillips of Worth Maltravers - Lord Woolf - October 1 - 2005

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