Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland

Last updated

Lord Chief Justice [a] of Northern Ireland
since 2 September 2021
Judiciary of Northern Ireland
Style The Right Honourable
Nominator Prime Minister (in consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission)
Appointer The Monarch
Term length Mandatory retirement at 75
Constituting instrument Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978
Precursor Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
Inaugural holder Sir Denis Henry, Bt
Formation1922
Salary£238,868
Website www.judiciaryni.uk

The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland [b] is the head of the judiciary of Northern Ireland and the president of the courts of Northern Ireland. The position was established with the creation of Northern Ireland in 1922, and was preceded by the position of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland prior to the partition of Ireland. The equivalent office in England and Wales is the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and in Scotland it is the Lord President of the Court of Session. The current Lord Chief Justice [c] is Dame Siobhan Keegan, the first woman to hold the office. [3]

Contents

Background

The office of Lord Chief Justice was originally established as one of two successor offices of the position of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, underneath the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who was president of the courts. [4] The Lord Chief Justice replaced the Lord Chancellor as president of the courts by statute in 1978. [5]

Role and responsibilities

The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland holds the office of president of the courts of Northern Ireland and is head of the judiciary of Northern Ireland.The Lord Chief Justice is responsible for representing the views of the judiciary of Northern Ireland to government, for the maintenance of appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of the judiciary of Northern Ireland, and for the maintenance of appropriate arrangements for the deployment of the judiciary of Northern Ireland and the allocation of work within the courts.The Lord Chief Justice is president of the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Crown Court, the county courts and the magistrates' courts of Northern Ireland. [6] The Lord Chief Justice is entitled to sit on any of those courts, but routinely sits on the Court of Appeal. [6]

List of lord chief justices of Northern Ireland

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 s.12".
  2. 1 2 3 "Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 s.2".
  3. ↑ "Dame Siobhan Keegan: NI's first Lady Chief Justice sworn in". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Government in Ireland Act (1920)". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Walker, David M., The Oxford Companion to Law, Appendix I, list of Lord Chief Justices of Northern Ireland, 1922–, p. 1354.
  1. ↑ The correct legal name of the post remains Lord Chief Justice even when the holder is a woman, although the holder may choose to be styled as Lady Chief Justice. [1] [2]
  2. ↑ The correct legal name of the post remains Lord Chief Justice even when the holder is a woman, although the holder may choose to be styled as Lady Chief Justice. [1] [2]
  3. ↑ The correct legal name of the post remains Lord Chief Justice even when the holder is a woman, although the holder may choose to be styled as Lady Chief Justice. [1] [2]

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.