The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the

judiciary of England and Wales There are various levels of judiciary in England and Wales—different types of courts have different styles of judges. They also form a strict hierarchy of importance, in line with the order of the courts in which they sit, so that judges o ...

and the president of 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, ...

. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and Welsh courts, surpassed by 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 ...

, who normally sat in the highest court. 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 ...

changed the roles of judges, creating the position of

President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and altering the duties of the lord chief justice and the lord chancellor. The lord chief justice ordinarily serves as president of the Criminal Division of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

and head of criminal justice, meaning its technical processes within the legal domain, but under the 2005 Act can appoint another judge to these positions. The lord chancellor became a purely executive office, with no judicial role. The equivalent in Scotland is the

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General () is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. ...

, who also holds the post of Lord Justice-General in the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary () is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff C ...

. The equivalent in Northern Ireland is the

Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is a judge who presides over the courts of Northern Ireland and is the head of the Northern Ireland, Northern Irish judiciary. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Siobhan Keegan, Dame ...

, local successor to the

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

of the pre- Partition era. Sue Carr, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, has been Lady Chief Justice since October 2023. She is the first female holder of the office.

History

Originally, each of the three high

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

courts, the King's Bench, the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, and the

Court of the Exchequer The Exchequer of Pleas, or Court of Exchequer, was a court that dealt with matters of equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law and common law in England and Wales. Originally part of the , or King's Council, the Exchequer of Plea ...

, had its own chief justice: the Lord Chief Justice, the

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body ...

, and the

Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pres ...

. The Court of the King's (or Queen's) Bench had existed since 1234. In 1268 the first chief justice of the King's Bench was appointed. From the time of

Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan and Jacobean era, Jacobean eras. Born into a ...

in the early 17th century, the chief justice became known informally as "lord chief justice". It was only in 1875 that it became the statutory title. The three courts became divisions of the High Court in 1875 (though the head of each court continued in post). Following the deaths of Lord Chief Justice

Sir Alexander Cockburn Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet (24 December 1802 – 20 November 1880) was a British jurist and politician who served as the Lord Chief Justice for 21 years. He heard some of the leading ''causes célèbres'' of the nine ...

and Chief Baron

Sir Fitzroy Kelly Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly (9 October 1796 – 18 September 1880) was an England, English commercial lawyer, Tory (British political party), Tory politician and judge. He was the last Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Background and education Kelly ...

in 1880, the three divisions were merged into a single division, with Lord Coleridge, the last Chief Justice of Common Pleas, as ''Lord Chief Justice of England''. The suffix "and Wales", now found in statutes and elsewhere, was of a holder's own motion and to reflect centuries-old reality, appended during the tenure of

Lord Bingham of Cornhill Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill (13 October 193311 September 2010) was a British judge who was successively Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord. On his death in 2010, he was described as the greatest j ...

. He held this office between 1996 and 2000.

Constitutional Reform Act 2005

The

(CRA) made the Lord Chief Justice the president of the Courts of England and Wales, vesting the office with many of the powers formerly held by the Lord Chancellor. While the Lord Chief Justice retains the role of President of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, the CRA separated the role of

President of 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 ...

; the changed chief justice role was first held by

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers (born 21 January 1938) is a British former senior judge. Phillips was the inaugural President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, holding office between October 2009 and Octo ...

. The CRA provides that the chief justice is chosen by a specially appointed committee convened by 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. ...

Modification of title from Lord to Lady

Upon the announcement of the appointment on 15 June 2023 of Dame Sue Carr, it was highly anticipated that the title would be modified from Lord to Lady, in line with Dame Siobhan Keegan's title change of Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland to Lady Chief Justice. This speculation was further confirmed in news closer to Carr's appointment, on 27 September 2023 that Carr had chosen the title of Lady Chief Justice. When Carr took office she was sworn as Lady Chief Justice, for the first time in the role's history since its inception.

Roles and responsibilities

The lord chief justice has more than 400 individual statutory responsibilities specified in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. While they sit as a judge on important criminal, civil and family cases, including appeal cases, they also have a wide range of administrative responsibilities. As president of the Courts of England and Wales, they are responsible for representing the opinions of the judiciary to government, overseeing their welfare and training and allocating work amongst them. With the Lord Chancellor, they are responsible for the handling of complaints against judges through the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. They are also president of the

Sentencing Council The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is a non-departmental public body that is responsible for developing sentencing guidelines, monitoring the use of guidelines and assessing and reviewing a wide range of decisions relating to sentenc ...

, and

Magistrates' Association The Magistrates' Association is the membership organisation for Magistrates of England and Wales, magistrates in England and Wales. By virtue of its education and training functions it is a charitable organisation and is funded by its members to ...

and chair the Judicial Executive Board, and

Judges' Council The Judges' Council is a body in England and Wales that, representing the judiciary, advises the Lord Chief Justice on judicial matters. It has its historical roots in the original Council of the Judges of the Supreme Court, created by the Judic ...

Lord chief justices of the King's (Queen's) Bench, to 1880

Lord (or Lady when the holder is female) chief justices of England (later England and Wales) 1880–present

Hereditary peerages created for the Lord Chief Justice

*Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield/Baron Parker – extant *Robert Raymond, 1st Baron Raymond – extinct 1756 *Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke/Baron Hardwicke – extant *William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield/Earl of Mansfield/Baron Mansfield – extant *Lloyd Kenyon, 1st

Baron Kenyon Baron Kenyon, of Gredington, in the County of Flint, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1788 for the lawyer and judge Sir Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baronet. He served as Master of the Rolls and as Lord Chief Justice of Englan ...

– extant *Edward Law, 1st

Baron Ellenborough Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 April 1802 for the lawyer, judge and politician Sir Edward Law, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from ...

– extant *Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden – extinct 1939 *Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman – extant * Rufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading/Viscount Reading/Baron Reading – extant, held by the Marquess of Reading * Alfred Lawrence, 1st

Baron Trevethin Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, ...

– extant, held by the Baron Trevethin and Oaksey * Gordon Hewart, 1st Baron Hewart – extinct 1964