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Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

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Law of England and Wales
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The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales was, historically, the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor. 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. As a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which removed the judicial functions from the office of Lord Chancellor, he or she is now the head of the judiciary in England and Wales; (s)he remains the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal. Until the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into force, 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 Igor Judge.

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. The courts, however, were combined in 1875, leaving a single Chief Justice.

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.

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

[edit] Lords Chief Justice, King's (Queen's) Bench, to 1875

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

[edit] External links

fr:Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales no:Lord Chief Justice (England og Wales) sv:Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

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