Judiciary and Courts in Northern Ireland
Section 11: Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
27.At present, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is President of the Court of Appeal, High Court, and Crown Court but has no role in relation to the county courts or the magistrates’ courts. Section 12 of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 Act provides for the Lord Chief Justice to be president of the Court of Appeal, Crown Court, High Court, county courts and magistrates’ courts and head of the judges and magistrates who sit in them. It does not, however, bestow any formal title.
28.Section 11 amends section 12(1) of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 to take account of reform of the office of the Lord Chancellor. It provides for a new statutory office and title of President of the Courts of Northern Ireland to be assumed by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. It also provides for the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland to be Head of the Judiciary of Northern Ireland.
29.The section sets out the responsibilities of the President of the Courts of Northern Ireland and the courts to which the presidency applies. The responsibilities, which are broadly similar to those of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales under section 7 of the Act, are:
representing the views of the judiciary of Northern Ireland to Parliament, the Lord Chancellor and Ministers of the Crown generally;
representing the views of the judiciary of Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the First Minister and deputy First Minister and Northern Ireland Ministers;
maintaining appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of the judiciary of Northern Ireland within the resources made available by the Lord Chancellor; and
maintaining appropriate arrangements for the deployment of the judiciary of Northern Ireland and the allocation of work within the courts.
