The High Court judges currently appointed in England and Wales deal with the more complex and difficult cases.
High Court judges usually sit in London, but they also travel to major court centres around the country as well as sitting in London. They try serious criminal cases, important civil cases and assist the Lord Justices to hear appeals.
The High Court consists of: the Lord Chief Justice; the President of the Queen’s Bench Division; the President of the Family Division; the Chancellor of the High Court; the Senior Presiding Judge; the vice-president of the Queen’s Bench Division; and the High Court judges themselves, who are given the prefix ‘the Honourable’, and referred to as ‘Mr/Mrs/Ms Justice surname’.
Where they sit
High Court judges are assigned to one of the three divisions of the High Court – the Queen’s Bench Division, the Family Division and the Chancery Division.
The Queen’s Bench Division
The Queen’s Bench Division deals with contract and tort (civil wrongs), judicial review and libel, and includes specialist courts: the Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court and the Administrative Court. It consists of about 73 judges, headed by the President of the Queen’s Bench Division.
The Family Division
The Family Division, which deals with family law, consists of about 19 judges headed by the President of the Family Division. Judges of the Family Division also sit as judges of the Court of Protection.
The Chancery Division
The Chancery Division deals with company law, partnership claims, conveyancing, land law, probate, patent and taxation cases, and consists of 18 High Court judges, headed by the Chancellor of the High Court. The division includes three specialist courts: the Companies Court, the Patents Court and the Bankruptcy Court. Chancery Division judges normally sit in London, but also hear cases in Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle.
Appointment
High Court judges are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, after a fair and open competition administered by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Candidates for appointment to the High Court must satisfy the judicial appointment eligibility condition on a 7 year basis, or be Circuit Judges who have held office for at least 2 years.
Court Dress
High Court judges are sometimes known as “red judges” because of their colourful robes, but their dress codes are actually more complex than that.
Red robes are usually worn only by judges dealing with criminal cases.
High Court judges presiding over civil cases wear the civil robe introduced on 1 October 2008, with red tabs at the neck of the gown and no wig.
Judges hearing Family Division cases in Chambers (a private room) do not wear court dress.
High Court judges sitting in the criminal division of the Court of Appeal wear a black silk gown and a short wig.
On Red Letter days (which include the Sovereign’s birthday and certain saints’ days) all High Court judges wear a scarlet robe.
Roles of the clerk
Every High Court judge is assigned a clerk who provides first-line support based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
Deputy High Court Judges
Candidates for appointment to the High Court must satisfy the judicial appointment eligibility condition on a 7 year basis, or be Circuit Judges who have held office for at least 2 years.
