Chief Justice

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The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Palau, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Mexico), or provincial or state supreme courts. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the equivalent position is the Lord Chief Justice and in Scotland the equivalent is the Lord President of the Court of Session.

There can also be a chief justice in the highest court of a constitutive state or even a territory, as it was formerly in Dakota, New Mexico and Oregon in the U.S.

The Chief Justice can be appointed to the post in a variety of different ways, but in many nations the presiding position is commonly given to the senior-most justice in the court, while in the United States it is often the President's most important political nomination, subject to approval by the United States Senate; the title of this top American jurist, often incorrectly said to be "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court", is actually Chief Justice of the United States, by statute.

In some states the Chief Justice has another title, e.g. president of the Supreme Court. In other cases the title of Chief Justice is used, but the court has another name, e.g. the Supreme Court of Judicature in colonial (British) Ceylon, the Court of Appeals in Maryland.

1 Competence
2 List of Chief Justice positions
3 See also
4 Sources and references

[edit] Competence

The Chief Justice is often responsible for serving as chair during private supreme court deliberations, and often is first to voice his opinion. However, most Supreme Courts are non-hierarchical, meaning the Chief Justice does not necessarily have any direct power of control over the actions of the other judges. His personal ruling is equal in weight to the rulings of any associate judges on the court.

In several countries, the Chief Justice is second in line to the Office of President or Governor General, should the incumbent die or resign, or third, if there is a Vice President or Lieutenant Governor General.

Apart from their intrinsic role in litigation, they may have additional competences, such as swearing in high officials (almost the republican equivalent of a monarch's coronation mass).

An extraordinary historical Chief Justice's mandate was in the case of the Tripartite German-UK-US Protectorate of (West) Samoa, administered by the joint Consuls of the three protecting powers, where he had the power to decide "any question ... respecting the rightful appointment and election of native Kings or any other Chief claiming authority over the islands, or respecting the validity of the power which the King or any Chief may claim in the exercise of his office." The Chief Justice was named by agreement of the three powers, or, failing their agreement, by the king of Sweden. The incumbents were:
- January 2, 1891 – November 3, 1893 : Conrad Cedercrantz (Sweden, b. 1854 - d. 1932)
- November 3, 1893 – 1897 : Henry Clay Ide (U.S.)
- 1897 – July, 1899 : William Lea Chambers (U.S., b. 1852 - d. 1933); President of the Supervisory Committee June 22, 1898 – December 31, 1898
- July, 1899 – March 1, 1900 : Luther Wood Osborn (acting) (former U.S. Consul, b. 1843 - d. 1901)