Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

In law, common law is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions.

The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common Pleas served as one of the central English courts for around 600 years. Authorised by Magna Carta to sit in a fixed location, the Common Pleas sat in Westminster Hall for its entire existence, joined by the Exchequer of Pleas and Court of King's Bench.

The chief justice of the Common Pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the other two common law courts and the equity and probate courts, became part of the High Court of Justice. As such, the chief justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord High Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice of England, who headed the Queen's Bench.

The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the curia regis, the King's Bench initially followed the monarch on his travels. The King's Bench finally joined the Court of Common Pleas and Exchequer of Pleas in Westminster Hall in 1318, making its last travels in 1421. The King's Bench was merged into the High Court of Justice by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873, after which point the King's Bench was a division within the High Court. The King's Bench was staffed by one Chief Justice and usually three Puisne Justices.

The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC for legal citation purposes.

Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet was a British jurist and politician who served as the Lord Chief Justice for 21 years. He heard some of the leading causes célèbres of the nineteenth century.

Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly was an English commercial lawyer, Tory politician and judge. He was the last Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer

John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge, PC was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for England and Wales, Attorney General for England and Wales, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Chief Justice of England.

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relevant to UK constitutional law. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the previous appellate jurisdiction of the Law Lords as well as some powers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and removed the functions of Speaker of the House of Lords and Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales from the office of Lord Chancellor.

Stephen de Segrave was a medieval Chief Justiciar of England.

Sir Ralph de Hengham was an English justice. His first employer was Giles of Erdington a justice of the Common Bench, whose service he entered as a clerk before 1255. By 1260 he had become a clerk for the King's Bench, and later passed into the service of Richard of Middleton, with whom he served on the Eyre circuit of Martin of Littlebury in 1262, and on the circuit led by Middleton himself in 1268–1269. In July 1229 Middleton became the Lord Chancellor, an event which, along with Hengham's own abilities, helped in his rapid rise. He was appointed as a junior justice to the Eyre circuit led by Roger of Seaton in 1271 while only in his mid-thirties, and in 1272 became senior justice to an Eyre circuit of his own. After the death of Henry III brought all Eyre circuits to a halt Hengham was appointed to a central court as a junior justice of the Common Bench starting in Hilary term 1273.

Sir William Inge was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench for a few months from 1316 to 1317. He was born in or near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, the son of Thomas Inge, a minor landowner and administrator. William Inge acted as an attorney at the common bench from 1281 and 1285, and was a serjeants of the king between 1287 and 1293. He was employed as a justice of eyre and of the assize, and became a regular assize justice in 1293. He had been knighted by 1300.

John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge, PC was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for England and Wales, Attorney General for England and Wales, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Chief Justice of England.

Charles Arthur Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, was an Irish statesman of the 19th century, and Lord Chief Justice of England. He was the first Roman Catholic to serve as Lord Chief Justice since the Reformation.

The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of the Rolls is second in seniority in England and Wales only to the Lord Chief Justice. The position dates from at least 1286, although it is believed that the office probably existed earlier than that.

Alfred Tristram Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin, PC was a British lawyer and judge. He served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1921 to 1922. He is best remembered for the questionable manner in which he became Lord Chief Justice, under a plan devised by David Lloyd George.

Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.

Hubert Lister Parker, Baron Parker of Waddington, was a British judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1958 to 1971. His term was marked by much less controversy than that of his predecessor, Lord Goddard.

John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery, was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1971 to 1980. He is principally noted for presiding over the Widgery Tribunal on the events of Bloody Sunday.

Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane, was a British Judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992. The later part of his term was marred by a succession of disputed convictions. Lane's critics claimed that his refusal to believe that police evidence could be institutionally corrupt, and his reluctance to overturn the verdict of a jury, "represented a dangerous hindrance to justice". His failure to allow the appeal of the Birmingham Six in 1988 led to calls for his resignation following their successful appeal in 1991; an editorial in The Times "urged him to go", while 140 members of parliament signed a House of Commons motion to that effect.

Harry Kenneth Woolf, Baron Woolf, is a British life peer and retired barrister and judge. He was Master of the Rolls from 1996 until 2000 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2000 until 2005. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 made him the first Lord Chief Justice to be President of the Courts of England and Wales. He was a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong from 2003 to 2012. He sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.

Igor Judge, Baron Judge, is an English former judge who served as the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the head of the judiciary, from 2008 to 2013. He was previously President of the Queen's Bench Division, at the time a newly created post assuming responsibilities transferred from the office of Lord Chief Justice. In 2019, he became Convenor of the Crossbench peers in the House of Lords.

Roger John Laugharne Thomas, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, is a British judge. He served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2013 to 2017.

Ian Duncan Burnett, Baron Burnett of Maldon, is a British judge and the current Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

Earl of Macclesfield is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1679 in favour of the soldier and politician Charles Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard. He had already been created Baron Gerard, of Brandon in the County of Suffolk, in 1645, and was made Viscount Brandon, of Brandon in the County of Suffolk, at the same time as he was given the earldom. These titles are also in the Peerage of England. Lord Macclesfield was the great-grandson of the distinguished judge Sir Gilbert Gerard, Master of the Rolls from 1581 to 1594. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was involved in the Rye House Plot of 1683, was sentenced to death but later pardoned by the King. On his death without legitimate issue in 1701 the titles passed to his younger brother, the third Earl. He had earlier represented Yarmouth, Lancaster and Lancashire in the House of Commons. When he died in 1702 the titles became extinct.

Lord Raymond, Baron of Abbots Langley in the County of Hertford, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 15 January 1731 for Sir Robert Raymond, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. The title became extinct on the death of the second Baron in 1756.

Earl of Hardwicke is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1754 for Philip Yorke, 1st Baron Hardwicke, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain from 1737 to 1756. He had already been created Baron Hardwicke, of Hardwicke in the County of Gloucestershire, in 1733, and was made Viscount Royston at the same time as he was given the earldom. These titles were also in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He represented Reigate and Cambridgeshire in the House of Commons and served as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. Lord Hardwicke married Lady Jemima Campbell, only daughter of John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane, and granddaughter and heiress of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, who succeeded her grandfather as Marchioness Grey in 1722. They had two daughters of whom the eldest, Lady Amabel, was created Countess De Grey in her own right in 1816.

Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Nottingham, and Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Middlesex, are two titles in the Peerage of Great Britain that have been united under a single holder since 1843.

Baron Kenyon, of Gredington, in the County of Flint, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1788 for the lawyer and judge Sir Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baronet. He served as Master of the Rolls and as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Kenyon had already been created a Baronet, of Gredington in the County of Flint, in 1784. His grandson, the third Baron, briefly represented St Michael's in the House of Commons. His grandson, the fourth Baron, held minor office in the governments of Lord Salisbury, Arthur Balfour and David Lloyd George and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire. In 1912 Lord Kenyon assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Tyrell. As of 2019 the titles are held by his great-grandson, the seventh Baron, who succeeded his father in 2019.

Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 April 1802 for the lawyer, judge and politician Sir Edward Law, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1802 to 1818. His son, the second Baron, notably served as Governor-General of India. On 22 October 1844 the second Baron was created Viscount Southam, of Southam in the County of Gloucester, and Earl of Ellenborough, in the County of Cumberland. These titles were also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His only son predeceased him and on his death in 1871 the viscountcy and earldom became extinct.

Baron Tenterden, of Hendon in the County of Middlesex, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1827 for Sir Charles Abbott, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1818 to 1832. His grandson, the third Baron, was Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1873 and 1882. The title became extinct on the death of the third Baron's son, the fourth Baron, in 1939.

Baron Denman, of Dovedale in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1834 for the prominent lawyer, judge and Whig politician Thomas Denman. He served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1832 to 1850. His son, the second Baron, assumed in 1876 by royal licence the additional surname of Aitchison, which was that of his father-in-law. He was succeeded by his grandnephew, the third Baron. He was the grandson of the Hon. Richard Denman, younger son of the first Baron. Lord Denman notably served as Governor-General of Australia from 1911 to 1914. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the fourth Baron. On his death in 1971, the title passed to his first cousin, Sir Charles Denman, 2nd Baronet, of Staffield, who became the fifth holder of the title.

Marquess of Reading is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1926 for Rufus Isaacs, who had been Member of Parliament for Reading between 1904 and 1913, before serving as Viceroy of India and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. He had already been created Baron Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, in 1914, Viscount Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, in 1916, and Viscount Erleigh, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, and Earl of Reading, in 1917.

Baron Trevethin, of Blaengawney in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1921 for the prominent judge Sir Alfred Lawrence, Lord Chief Justice of England from 1921 to 1922.