High Court judge (England and Wales)
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A justice of the High Court, commonly known as a High Court judge, is a judge of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, and represents the third-highest level of judge in the
courts of England and Wales The Courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales. Except in constitutional matters, ...
. High Court judges are referred to as
puisne justice Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...
s and wear red and black robes. High Court judges do not include the ''ex officio'' judges of the High Court, such as the heads of the divisions. High Court judges rank below justices of appeal, but above circuit judges.


Title and form of address

Upon appointment, male High Court judges are appointed
Knights Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...
and female judges made Dames
Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
. In court, a High Court judge is addressed as ''My Lord'' or ''Your Lordship'' if male, or as ''My Lady'' or ''Your Ladyship'' if female. High Court judges use the title in office of ''Mr Justice'' for men or, normally, ''
Mrs MRS, Mrs, or mrs may refer to: Acronyms * ICAO code for Air Marshall Islands, an airline based in Majuro, Marshall Islands * Magnetic resonance spectroscopy * Mammography reporting software, used to manage data related to radiologist interpretat ...
Justice'' for women, even if unmarried. When Alison Russell was appointed in 2014, she took the title "Ms Justice Russell". The
style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...
of ''
The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...
'' (or ''The Hon'') is also used during office. For example, Joseph Bloggs would be referred to as The Hon Mr Justice Bloggs and Jane Bloggs as The Hon Mrs Justice Bloggs . When there is already or has until recently been a judge with the same (or a confusingly similar) surname as a new appointee, the new judge will often use a first name as part of their official title. Many judges have done this, such as Mr Justice Christopher Clarke (Sir ''Christopher'' Simon Courtenay Stephenson Clarke) and Mr Justice Roderick Evans (Sir David ''Roderick'' Evans). When referring to a High Court judge in a legal context, the judge is identified by use of the surname (or first name and surname if appropriate), followed by the letter 'J'. For example, Mr Justice Bloggs or Mrs Justice Bloggs would be referred to as "Bloggs J". When two or more judges are listed the letters 'JJ' are used; for example, "Bloggs, Smith and Jones JJ".


Appointment

Judges of the High Court were appointed in 1875 on the formation of the High Court of Justice. In 1877, they were formally renamed justices of the High Court. High Court judges are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the
lord chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
. Under the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005 The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relevant to UK constitutional law. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the previous appellate jurisdiction of the Law ...
, the
Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland. ...
has removed the appointment of judges from the overtly political arena. High Court judges, like other judges, are appointed on open competition. High Court judges, like all judges in England and Wales, hold office during good behaviour; this is laid down in the
Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...
. This gives them greater security of tenure than if they held office during His or Her Majesty's pleasure, and is designed to protect their independence. A High Court judge can only be removed by the King upon an Address of both Houses of
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. Formerly, High Court judges could only be appointed from among
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
s of at least 10 years' standing. Before the qualifications changed, a typical appointee had in the region of twenty to thirty years' experience as a lawyer. Only four
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer 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 enabled to p ...
s had been appointed as puisne judges: Michael Sachs in 1993, Lawrence Collins in 2000, Henry Hodge in 2004, and
Gary Hickinbottom Sir Gary Robert Hickinbottom (born 22 December 1955) is a British judge who currently serves as President of Welsh Tribunals and as Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. In 2008, he became the fourth solicitor to be appoi ...
in 2008. Collins was elevated further to the Court of Appeal in 2007 and became a
law lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...
in 2009. Occasionally more junior members of the judiciary are elevated to that rank, such as Mr Justice Crane, who was formerly a Circuit Judge, and Mrs Justice Butler-Sloss (now Baroness Butler-Sloss) who was previously a registrar in the Principal Registry of the Family Division of the High Court. A few distinguished academics have also made it onto the High Court bench, including Mrs Justice Hale (now Baroness Hale of Richmond) and, more recently, Mr Justice Beatson. In 2004, calls for increased
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among the judiciary were recognised and the qualification period was changed so that, as of 21 July 2008, a potential High Court judge must satisfy the
judicial-appointment eligibility condition The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (c. 15) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for several diverse matters relating to the law, some of them being significant changes to the structure ...
on a seven-year basis. While High Court judges all have the same jurisdiction, an appointee is allocated to one of the High Court's three divisions: the
Chancery Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...
, the
King'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 ...
and the
Family Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
. Judges can be transferred from one division to another by the Lord Chancellor.


Remuneration

Their salary was initially fixed at £5,000 in 1875, which was only increased to £8,000 in 1954. A pension of £3,500 was first fixed in 1875. ,
puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...
s of the High Court received a salary of £185,197 per year, the
Chancellor of the High Court The chancellor of the High Court is the head of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. This judge and the other two heads of divisions (Family and King's Bench) sit by virtue of their offices often, as and wh ...
of £221,757 per year.


See also

*
List of High Court Judges of England and Wales This is a list of justices of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, the puisne judges of the court. They serve in addition to the High Court's ''ex officio'' members:Senior Courts Act 1981s 4(1)./ref> * Lady Chief Justice * President ...
* Judicial titles in England and Wales


References


External links


Judiciary of England and Wales
{{Judiciary of England and Wales
Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...