Lord chief justice | Head of Judiciary, Judicial System, Supreme Court | Britannica (original) (raw)

lord chief justice, the head of the judiciary of England and Wales. The lord chief justice traditionally served as head of the Queen’s (or King’s) Bench Division of the High Court of Justice and as head of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal. Under a constitutional reform of 2005 that was effected in 2006, however, the lord chief justice assumed most of the judicial functions of the lord chancellor, as well as the new title of president of the courts of England and Wales. In that capacity, the lord chief justice is responsible for representing the views of the judiciary to Parliament and the government and for managing the affairs of the courts, including the training and deployment of judges and the allocation of work. Formerly appointed by the crown on the nomination of the prime minister, the lord chief justice is now appointed by a special panel of an independent Judicial Appointments Commission. His title derives from the Judicature Act of 1873.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Brian Duignan.