Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales (alternatively the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales 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.

Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the Courts of England and Wales, 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 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.

From 1 October 2023, the title became known as Lady Chief Justice upon the appointment of the current holder, Sue Carr, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill.