The Lord Chancellor,formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain,is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ranking Great Officer of State in Scotland and England,nominally outranking the prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed and dismissed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to the union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain,there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. Likewise,the Lordship of Ireland and its successor states maintained the office of lord chancellor of Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922,whereupon the office was abolished.
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court,the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Court building in the Old Town in Edinburgh,or in dedicated buildings in Glasgow and Aberdeen. The High Court sometimes sits in various smaller towns in Scotland,where it uses the local sheriff court building. As an appeal court,the High Court sits only in Edinburgh. On one occasion the High Court of Justiciary sat outside Scotland,at Zeist in the Netherlands during the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial,as the Scottish Court in the Netherlands. At Zeist the High Court sat both as a trial court,and an appeal court for the initial appeal by Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.
Mary Howarth Arden,Baroness Mance,,PC,known professionally as Lady Arden of Heswall,is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Before that,she was a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Brenda Marjorie Hale,Baroness Hale of Richmond,,is a British judge who served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2017 until her retirement in 2020.
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
There are various levels of judiciary in England and Wales—different types of courts have different styles of judges. They also form a strict hierarchy of importance,in line with the order of the courts in which they sit,so that judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales are given more weight than district judges sitting in county courts and magistrates' courts. On 1 April 2020 there were 3,174 judges in post in England and Wales. Some judges with United Kingdom-wide jurisdiction also sit in England and Wales,particularly Justices of the United Kingdom Supreme Court and members of the tribunals judiciary.
Sir John Bernard Goldring is a British judge. He currently sits as the President of the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal,and serves as the Deputy Investigatory Powers Commissioner. He formerly sat on the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Heather Carol Hallett,Baroness Hallett,,is a retired British judge of the Court of Appeal and a crossbench life peer. The first woman to chair the Bar Council and the fifth woman to sit in the Court of Appeal,Hallett led the independent inquest into the 7/7 bombings. In April 2019,she was appointed Chair of the Security Vettings Appeal Panel. In December 2021,she was announced as the chair of the public inquiry into the UK Government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29 June 2022,the Government accepted Baroness Hallett's proposed terms of reference for the inquiry,with minor changes suggested by the devolved administrations.
David Edmond Neuberger,Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury is an English judge. He served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2017. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until the House of Lords' judicial functions were transferred to the new Supreme Court in 2009,at which point he became Master of the Rolls,the second most senior judge in England and Wales. Neuberger was appointed to the Supreme Court,as its President,in 2012. He now serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and formerly served as the Chair of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom. He was appointed to the Singapore International Commercial Court in 2018.
Sir Gary Robert Hickinbottom is a British judge who currently serves as President of Welsh Tribunals and as Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. In 2008,he became the fourth solicitor to be appointed a High Court judge,after Michael Sachs in 1993,Lawrence Collins in 2000,and Henry Hodge in 2004.
Patrick Stewart Hodge,Lord Hodge,PC is a British lawyer,currently serving as Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Jill Margaret Black,Lady Black of Derwent,is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Vivien Judith Rose,Lady Rose of Colmworth,is a British judge currently serving as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
As part of the British honours system,Special Honours are issued at the Monarch's pleasure at any given time. The Special Honours refer to the awards made within royal prerogative,operational honours and other honours awarded outside the New Years Honours and Birthday Honours.
Sir Michael John Fordham,,styled The Hon. Mr Justice Fordham,is a judge of the High Court of England and Wales assigned to the King's Bench Division. He was appointed as a Justice of the High Court on 13 January 2020.
Dame Karen Margaret Steyn,DBE is a British High Court judge.
Dame Kelyn Meher Bacon Darwin, is a British High Court judge.
Sir Michael Anthony Green styled Mr Justice Michael Green is a British High Court judge.
Dame Joanna Angela Smith,,styled Mrs Justice Smith,is a British High Court judge.
Dame Sarah Mary Morgan,is a British barrister and High Court Judge.
