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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