Chancellor of the High Court

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The Chancellor of the High Court is the head of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. Before October 2005, when certain provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 took effect, the office was known as the Vice-Chancellor. He nominally acted as the Lord Chancellor's deputy in the English legal system; however, he was in effect the head of the Chancery Division. Despite the change of title, the duties of the office did not change.

From 1813 to 1875, puisne judges of the Court of Chancery were also called Vice-Chancellors.

Ireland

A similar position existed in Ireland between 1867 and 1904 when the office was abolished; surprisingly throughout that period it was held by one man, Hedges Eyre Chatterton.

Vice-Chancellors, 1813–1875

Because of an increased in case load in the Court of Chancery for its two judges (the Lord Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls), an additional judicial office, called the Vice-Chancellor of England, was created by the Administration of Justice Act 1813 to share the work. With the transfer of the equity jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery from the Court of Exchequer, two more such posts were added in 1841 by the Chancery Act 1841, with the caveat that no successor for the second of the two new judges (James Wigram) could be appointed. After Lancelot Shadwell (the Vice-Chancellor of England at the time the bill came into effect) left office, the three Vice-Chancellors were to be of equal status, with the "of England" dropped. In 1851, the law was changed so that a successor to Wigram could be named (George Turner), but again with the caveat that no future successor could be appointed. This restriction was lifted by section 52 of the Master in Chancery Abolition Act 1852.

After the Judicature Acts, which merged the Court of Chancery and various other courts into the new High Court of Justice, came into force, new Vice-Chancellors were not appointed, and new judges of the Chancery Division were styled "Mr. Justice ..." like other High Court judges (which style had previously been used for judges of the common law courts).

• 10 April 1813: Sir Thomas Plumer^[1]
• 17 January 1818: Sir John Leach^[2]
• 2 May 1827: Sir Anthony Hart^[3]
• 31 October 1827: Sir Lancelot Shadwell^[4]
• 28 October 1841 – 1851: Sir James Lewis Knight-Bruce^[5]
• 28 October 1841 – 1850: Sir James Wigram^[5]
• 2 November 1850 – 1851: Sir Robert Monsey Rolfe^[6] (The Lord Cranworth from 12 December 1850)^[7]
• 2 April 1851 – 1853: Sir George Turner^[8]
• 20 October 1851 – 1866: Sir Richard Torin Kindersley^[9]
• 20 October 1851 – 1852: Sir James Parker^[9]
• 20 September 1852 – 1871: Sir John Stuart^[10]
• 10 January 1853 – 1868: Sir William Wood^[11]
• 1 December 1866 – 1881: Sir Richard Malins^[12]
• 13 March 1868 – 1869: Sir George Markham Giffard^[13]
• 2 January 1869 – 1870: Sir William Milbourne James^[14]
• 4 July 1870 – 1886: Sir James Bacon^[15]
• 18 April 1871 – 1873: Sir John Wickens^[16]
• 11 November 1873 – 1882: Sir Charles Hall^[17]

Vice-Chancellors, 1971–2005

A new office of Vice-Chancellor was created by section 5 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, which came into effect on 1 October 1971. Under its provisions the Vice-Chancellor was appointed by the Lord Chancellor (who was president of the Chancery Division) and was responsible to the latter for administering the division.^[18] The Senior Courts Act 1981 made the position one appointed by the Queen (like the President of the Family Division)^[19] and made the Vice-Chancellor vice-president of the Chancery Division.^[20]

• 1971: Sir John Pennycuick
• 1974: Sir Anthony Plowman^[21]
• 1976: Sir Robert Megarry (1910–2006)
• 3 June 1985: Sir Nicolas Browne-Wilkinson^[22] (b. 1936)
• 1 October 1991: Sir Donald Nicholls^[23]
• 3 October 1994: Sir Richard Scott^[24]
• 17 July 2000: Sir Andrew Morritt^[25] (Chancellor of the High Court after the relevant provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into effect on 1 October 2005.)

Chancellor of the High Court, 2005–present

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 removed the Lord Chancellor's role as a judge. As one of the judicial roles of the office was president of the Chancery Division, the office of Vice-Chancellor was renamed Chancellor of the High Court and replaced the Lord Chancellor. The name change took effect on 1 October 2005,^[26] but some of the responsibilities (including the presidency of the division) did not transfer until 3 April 2006.^[27] The Constitutional Reform Act retained the position of Vice-Chancellor as vice-president of the Chancery Division,^[28] though it does not appear anyone has been appointed to the position or who would make or be eligible for such an appointment.

• 1 October 2005: Sir Andrew Morritt (Vice-Chancellor before the relevant provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into effect on 1 October 2005.)
• 11 January 2013: Sir Terence Etherton^[29]
• 24 October 2016: Sir Geoffrey Vos^[30]

See also

• Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
• Master of the Rolls
• President of the Queen's Bench Division
• President of the Family Division

References

• A History of English Law, Vol. I, by Sir William Holdsworth (Methuen & Co, 1961 reprint)
• Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900–2000, by David Butler and Gareth Butler (Macmillan Press 2000)
• Joseph Haydn, The Book of Dignities, 1894

External links

• New legal year sees new team take up posts Department for Constitutional Affairs press release, 3 October 2005)
• Lists of Judges from the Department for Constitutional Affairs