"Hanging judge" is a colloquial phrase for a judge who has gained notoriety for handing down punishment by sentencing convicted persons to death by hanging, or otherwise imposing unusually harsh sentences. Hanging judges are officers of the court with mandates, as opposed to extralegal lynch law.
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility and arguments of the parties, and then issues a ruling in the case based on their interpretation of the law and their own personal judgment. A judge is expected to conduct the trial impartially and, typically, in an open court.
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, also known as "the Hanging Judge", was a Welsh judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor. His conduct as a judge was to enforce royal policy, resulting in a historical reputation for severity and bias.
The Bloody Assizes were a series of trials started at Winchester on 25 August 1685 in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England.
The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales.
Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford, PC, KC was the third son of Dudley North, 4th Baron North, and his wife Anne Montagu, daughter of Sir Charles Montagu of Boughton House and Mary Whitmore. He was created Baron Guilford in 1683, after becoming Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in succession to Lord Nottingham.
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.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Court hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. There are 90 judicial positions on the Court in addition to supernumerary judges, making for a grand total of 108 judges. There are also 13 Supreme Court masters, who hear and dispose of a wide variety of applications in chambers.
Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington PC was a Member of Parliament, Privy Councillor, Protestant protagonist in the Revolution of 1688, Mayor of Chester and author.
Isaac Charles Parker, also known as "Hanging Judge" Parker, was an American politician and jurist. He served as a United States representative (congressman) in two separate districts subsequently from Missouri and was appointed as the first United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, which also had jurisdiction over the adjacent Indian Territory to the west. He was appointed by 18th President Ulysses S. Grant in 1875 and served in the federal judiciary until his death in 1896.
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.
Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane, was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992, having previously served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1977 until 1980.
Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton,, known as Sir Henry Hawkins between 1876 and 1899, was an English judge. He served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice between 1876 and 1898. R. F. V. Heuston described him as "probably the worst judge on the English Bench in the nineteenth century."
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a presiding judge and eight judges.
Cyril Asquith, Baron Asquith of Bishopstone, PC was an English barrister and judge who served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1951 until his death three years later.
Nigel Cyprian Bridge, Baron Bridge of Harwich, PC was a British judge, who served as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary between 1980 and 1992. A leading appellate judge, Bridge is also remembered for having presided over the Birmingham Six trial.
Sir John Hugh Williams, generally known as Hugh Williams, is a former president of the New Zealand Electoral Commission and a retired judge of the High Court of New Zealand. From 2016 to 2022, he was Chief Justice of the Cook Islands.
John Toler, 1st Earl of Norbury PC, KC, known as The Lord Norbury between 1800 and 1827, was an Irish lawyer, politician and judge. A greatly controversial figure in his time, he was nicknamed the "Hanging Judge" and was considered to be one of the most corrupt legal figures in Irish history. He was Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas between 1800 and 1827.
Sarath Ambepitiya was a Sri Lankan jurist. He was serving as a Judge of the Colombo High Court when he was assassinated. The assassination, orchestrated by a drug lord sentenced by the judge, gripped the nation and forced the government to crack down on organized crime.
Sir Edward Ward (1638–1714) was an English lawyer and judge. He became chief baron of the exchequer, and is best known as the judge in the state trial for piracy of Captain Kidd.
David William Robert Brand, Lord Brand was a British lawyer and judge. He had a conservative outlook on life, and as a judge he had a reputation for both speedy decisions and severe sentences.
Remembered in Western novels and films as a "Hanging Judge"