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Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales (alternatively Lord Chief Justice when the holder is male) is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales.

"Lord Chief Justice" and "Lady Chief Justice" redirect here. For other uses, see Lord Chief Justice (disambiguation).

Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales

Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and Welsh courts, surpassed by the lord chancellor, who normally sat in the highest court. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 changed the roles of judges, creating the position of President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and altering the duties of the lord chief justice and the lord chancellor. The lord chief justice ordinarily serves as president of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal and head of criminal justice, meaning its technical processes within the legal domain, but under the 2005 Act can appoint another judge to these positions. The lord chancellor became a purely executive office, with no judicial role.


The 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 equivalent in Northern Ireland is the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, local successor to the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland of the pre-Partition era.


Sue Carr, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, has been Lady Chief Justice since October 2023. She is the first female holder of the office.[2]

Roles and responsibilities[edit]

The lord chief justice has 400 individual statutory responsibilities specified in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. While they sit as a judge on important criminal, civil and family cases, including appeal cases, they also have a wide range of administrative responsibilities. As president of the Courts of England and Wales, they are responsible for representing the opinions of the judiciary to government, overseeing their welfare and training and allocating work amongst them. With the Lord Chancellor, they are responsible for the handling of complaints against judges through the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. They are also president of the Sentencing Council, and Magistrates' Association and chairs the Judicial Executive Board, and Judges' Council.[9]

Thomas Parker, 1st – extant

Earl of Macclesfield/Baron Parker

Robert Raymond, 1st – extinct 1756

Baron Raymond

Philip Yorke, 1st – extant

Earl of Hardwicke/Baron Hardwicke

William Murray, 1st – extant

Earl of Mansfield/Earl of Mansfield/Baron Mansfield

Lloyd Kenyon, 1st – extant

Baron Kenyon

Edward Law, 1st – extant

Baron Ellenborough

Charles Abbott, 1st – extinct 1939

Baron Tenterden

Thomas Denman, 1st – extant

Baron Denman

Rufus Isaacs, 1st – extant, held by the Marquess of Reading

Earl of Reading/Viscount Reading/Baron Reading

Alfred Lawrence, 1st – extant, held by the Baron Trevethin and Oaksey

Baron Trevethin

Gordon Hewart, 1st – extinct 1964

Baron Hewart

Category:Lord chief justices of England and Wales

Category:English judges

Category:Judges of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)

Master of the Rolls

(1874), Lives of the Chief Justices of England, in four volumes (two additional volumes were a "Continuation by Sir Joseph Arnould – Late Judge of the High Court of Bombay"), 3rd ed. London, John Murray 1874.

Campbell, John