Constitutional Reform Act 2005 Explanatory Notes

The Judiciary and the Courts in England and Wales

Section 7: President of the Courts of England and Wales

22.Section 7 provides a new, additional, statutory title of President of the Courts of England and Wales for the Lord Chief Justice. This section also recognises that the Lord Chief Justice is the Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales.

23.The section sets out the responsibilities of the President of the Courts of England and Wales. It also sets out the courts to which the presidency applies. In his role as President of the Courts of England and Wales, the Lord Chief Justice is to be responsible for representing the views of the judiciary of England and Wales to Parliament, the Lord Chancellor and Ministers of the Crown generally. He is also to be responsible, within the resources made available by the Lord Chancellor, for maintaining appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of the judiciary of England and Wales, and for maintaining appropriate arrangements for the deployment of the judiciary of England and Wales and allocating work within courts. In relation to the issue of deployment, it should be noted that the Lord Chief Justice will also have a role in the appointment of judicial office holders to committees, boards and similar bodies, as set out in paragraphs 46-49 of the ‘Concordat’; his role in such appointments so far as governed by statute is provided for by amendments made by Schedule 4.

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