Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which removed the judicial functions from the office of Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chief Justice is also the presiding judge of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal. The first Lord Chief Justice to act as head of the judiciary after the Lord Chancellor relinquished that role was Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers.

Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lord Chief Justice is chosen by a specially appointed committee, convened by the Judicial Appointments Commission. The current Lord Chief Justice is Lord Judge, who took over the role on 1 October 2008 following the promotion of Lord Phillips to the position of Senior Law Lord.

Until the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into force on 3 April 2006, the Lord Chief Justice was also the head of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. There is now a separate post of President of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court, currently held by Sir Anthony May.

Originally, each of the three high common law courts - the King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of the Exchequer - had its 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. Although the Court of the King's (or Queen's) Bench had existed since 1234, the title of chief justice was not used until 1268. In the intermediary period, one of the justices would be considered the senior judge, and hold a position similar to that later held by the chief justice. The courts, however, were combined in 1875, creating a single Lord Chief Justice of England.

The suffix "and Wales", now found in statutes and elsewhere, was unilaterally appended by Lord Bingham between 1996 and 2000. 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.

Chief Justices, King's (Queen's) Bench, to 1875

• William de Raley (1234 - 1239)
• Sir Stephen of Seagrave (1239 – 1241)
• William of York (1241 – 1247)
• Henry of Bath (1249 – 1251)
• Sir Gilbert of Seagrave (1251 – 1253)
• Henry of Bath (1253 – 1260)
• Sir William of Wilton (1261 – 1263)
• Nicholas de Turri (1265 – 1267)
• Sir Robert de Briwes (1268 - 6 November 1269)
• Richard of Staines (6 November 1269 - 1273)
• Martin of Littlebury (1273 - 1274)
• Ralph de Hengham (1274 - 1290)
• Gilbert de Thornton (1290 - 1296)
• Sir Roger le Brabazon (1296 - March 1316)
• Sir William Inge (judge) (March 1316 - 15 June 1317)
• Sir Henry le Scrope (15 June 1317 - September 1323)
• Hervey de Stanton (September 1323 - 21 March 1324)
• Sir Geoffrey le Scrope (21 March 1324 - 1 May 1329)
• Sir Robert de Malberthorp (1 May 1329 - 28 October 1329)
• Sir Henry le Scrope (28 October 1329 - 19 December 1330)
• Sir Geoffrey le Scrope (19 December 1330 - 28 March 1332)
• Sir Richard de Willoughby (28 March 1332 - 20 September 1332)
• Sir Geoffrey le Scrope (20 September 1332 - 10 September 1333)
• Sir Richard de Willoughby (10 September 1333 - 1337)
• Sir Geoffrey le Scrope (1337 - October 1338)
• Sir Richard de Willoughby (October 1338 - 21 July 1340)
• Sir Robert Parning (21 July 1340 - 8 January 1341)
• Sir William Scott (8 January 1341 - 26 November 1346)
• Sir William de Thorpe (26 November 1346 - 26 October 1350)
• Sir William de Shareshull (26 October 1350 - 24 May 1361)
• Sir Henry Green (24 May 1361 - 29 October 1365)
• Sir John Knyvet (29 October 1365 - 15 July 1372)
• Sir John de Cavendish (15 July 1372 - 14 June 1381) (murdered in the Peasants' Revolt)
• Sir Robert Tresilian (22 June 1381 - 31 January 1388)
• Sir Walter de Cloptone (31 January 1388 - 15 November 1400)
• Sir William Gascoigne (15 November 1400 - 29 March 1413)
• Sir William Hankeford (29 March 1413 - 21 January 1424)
• Sir William Cheyne (21 January 1424 - 20 January 1439)
• Sir John Juyn (20 January 1439 - 13 April 1440)
• Sir John Hody (13 April 1440 - 25 January 1442)
• Sir John Fortescue (25 January 1442 - 13 May 1461)
• Sir John Markham (13 May 1461 - 23 January 1469)
• Sir Thomas Billing (23 January 1469 - 7 May 1481)
• Sir William Hussey (7 May 1481 - 24 November 1495)
• Sir John Fineux (24 November 1495 - 23 January 1526)
• Sir John Fitz-James (23 January 1526 - 21 January 1539)
• Sir Edward Montagu (21 January 1539 - 9 November 1545)
• Sir Richard Lyster (9 November 1545 - 21 March 1552)
• Sir Roger Cholmeley (21 March 1552 - 4 October 1553)
• Sir Thomas Bromley (4 October 1553 - 11 June 1555)
• Sir William Portman (11 June 1555 - 8 May 1557)
• Sir Edward Saunders (8 May 1557 - 22 January 1559)
• Sir Robert Catlyn (22 January 1559 - 8 November 1574)
• Sir Christopher Wray (8 November 1574 - 2 June 1592)
• Sir John Popham (2 June 1592 - 25 June 1607)
• Sir Thomas Fleming (25 June 1607 - 25 October 1613)
• Sir Edward Coke (25 October 1613 - 16 November 1616)
• Sir Henry Montagu (16 November 1616 - 29 January 1621)
• Sir James Ley (29 January 1621 - 26 January 1625)
• Sir Ranulph Crewe (26 January 1625 - 5 February 1627)
• Sir Nicholas Hyde (5 February 1627 - 24 October 1631)
• Sir Thomas Richardson (24 October 1631 - 4 February 1635; died in office)
• Sir John Brampston (14 April 1635 - 31 October 1642)
• Sir Robert Heath (31 October 1642 - October 1645)
• Sir Henry Rolle (12 October 1648 - 15 June 1655)
• John Glynne (15 June 1655 - 17 January 1660)
• Sir Richard Newdigate (17 January 1660 - 1 October 1660)
• Sir Robert Foster (1 October 1660 - 19 October 1663)
• Sir Robert Hyde (19 October 1663 - 21 November 1665)
• Sir John Kelynge (21 November 1665 - 18 May 1671)
• Sir Matthew Hale (18 May 1671 - 12 April 1676)
• Sir Richard Raynsford (12 April 1676 - 31 May 1678)
• Sir William Scroggs (31 May 1678 - 11 April 1681)
• Sir Francis Pemberton (11 April 1681 - 28 September 1683)
• George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (28 September 1683 - 23 October 1685)
• Sir Edward Herbert (23 October 1685 - 22 April 1687)
• Sir Robert Wright (22 April 1687 - 17 April 1689)
• Sir John Holt (17 April 1689 - 5 March 1710)
• Thomas Parker, 1st Baron Parker (11 March 1710 - 15 May 1718)
• Sir John Pratt (15 May 1718 - 2 March 1725)
• Sir Robert Raymond (2 March 1725 - 31 October 1733)
• Philip Yorke, 1st Baron Hardwicke (31 October 1733 - 8 June 1737)
• Sir William Lee (8 June 1737 - 2 May 1754)
• Sir Dudley Ryder (2 May 1754 - 8 November 1756)
• William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (8 November 1756 - 4 June 1788) (Earl of Mansfield from 1776)
• Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon (4 June 1788 - 11 April 1802)
• Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough (11 April 1802 - 2 November 1818)
• Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden (2 November 1818 - 4 November 1832)
• Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman (4 November 1832 - 5 March 1850)
• John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell of St Andrews (5 March 1850 - 24 June 1859)
• Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet (24 June 1859 - 1 November 1875)

Lords Chief Justice of England (later England and Wales), 1875-present

• Sir Alexander Cockburn (1 November 1875 - 20 November 1880) (died in office)
• Lord Coleridge (29 November 1880 - 14 June 1894) (died in office)
• Lord Russell of Killowen (11 July 1894 - 10 August 1900) (died in office)
• Viscount Alverstone (24 October 1900 - 21 October 1913)
• The Earl of Reading (21 October 1913 - 8 March 1921)
• Lord Trevethin (15 April 1921 - 2 March 1922)
• Viscount Hewart (8 March 1922 - 12 October 1940)
• Viscount Caldecote (14 October 1940 - 23 January 1946)
• Lord Goddard (23 January 1946 - 29 September 1958)
• The Lord Parker of Waddington (29 September 1958 - 20 April 1971)
• Lord Widgery (20 April 1971 - 15 April 1980)
• Lord Lane (15 April 1980 - 27 April 1992)
• Lord Taylor of Gosforth (27 April 1992 -4 June 1996)
• Lord Bingham of Cornhill (4 June 1996 - 6 June 2000)
• Lord Woolf (6 June 2000 - 30 September 2005)
• Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers (30 September 2005 - 1 October 2008)
• Lord Judge (1 October 2008 - )

External links

• Information on the Lord Chief Justice from judiciary.gov.uk

References