The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but became the top judge as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which removed the judicial functions from the office of Lord Chancellor and altered the duties of the Lord Chief Justice and changed the relationship between the two offices. The Lord Chief Justice is also the presiding judge of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal.
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.
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. In Lord Judge's case, Judge is his family's coincidental surname, not an affectation or title. He has announced he will retire at the end of September 2013, with a selection exercise to determine his successor set to begin "in early 2013".
Read more about Lord Chief Justice Of England And Wales: History, Lord Chief Justices of England, King's (Queen's) Bench, To 1875, Lord Chief Justices of England (later England and Wales) 1875–present
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“My Lord advances with majestic mien,
Smit with the mighty pleasure to be seen:”
—Alexander Pope (16881744)
“When we consider what, to use the words of the catechism, is the chief end of man, and what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“I not deny
The jury, passing on the prisoners life,
May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try. Whats open made to justice,
That justice seizes.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“I think that both here and in England there are two schools of thoughtthose who would be altruistic in regard to the Germans, hoping that by loving kindness to make them Christian againand those who would adopt a much tougher attitude. Most decidedly I belong to the latter school, for though I am not blood-thirsty, I want the Germans to know that this time at least they have definitely lost the war.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (18821945)
“I just come and talk to the plants, reallyvery important to talk to them, they respond I find.”
—Charles, Prince Of Wales (b. 1948)