Lord Chief Justice

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Judiciary of England and Wales
Incumbent The Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd since 1 October 2013
Style	The Right Honourable
Nominator	Judicial Appointments Commission
Appointer	UK Monarch on recommendation of Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, who are in turn given recommendations by a selection panel.
Formation	1 November 1875

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, altered the duties of the Lord Chief Justice and changed the relationship between the two offices. The Lord Chief Justice is also the nominal President of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal and Head of Criminal Justice, but can appoint another judge to these positions under the 2005 Act.

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. There is also a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, successor to the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland of the pre-Partition era.

The current Lord Chief Justice is Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, who took over the role on 1 October 2013.

Originally, each of the three high common law courts, the King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of the Exchequer, had its own chief justice: the Lord Chief Justice, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Although the Court of the King's (or Queen's) Bench had existed since 1234, the title of chief justice was not used until 1268. In the intermediary period, one of the justices would be considered the senior judge, and hold a position similar to that later held by the chief justice. The three courts became divisions of the High Court in 1875, and following the deaths of the Lord Chief Justice and Lord Chief Baron in 1880, the three were merged into a single division under the last Chief Justice of Common Pleas creating a single Lord Chief Justice of England.