Lord Igor Judge becomes Lord Chief Justice

Lord Igor Judge has taken over as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales today. Lord Judge takes over following the appointment of Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers as Senior Law Lord.

Lord Judge, 67, is the first Lord Chief Justice in recent years to come from a criminal law background. He was called to the Bar in 1963 at Middle Temple and took Silk in 1979. In 1988 he was appointed a Judge of the High Court (Queen's Bench Division), was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1996 and became the first President of the Queen's Bench Division in 2005. From 1993 until 1996 he was Presiding Judge for the Midland Circuit, Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales from 1998 until 2003 and Deputy Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2003 until 2005.

Although like Lord Phillips Lord Judge intends to sit across all the jurisdictions, he has decided to continue as Head of Criminal Justice and shall preside regularly in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division.