Judicial Profiles - High Court Judges
The 106 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 criminal appeals. High Court judges are given the prefix 'the honourable', and referred to as 'Mr/Mrs Justice surname '.
Where they sit
High Court judges are assigned to one of the three divisions of the High Court - the Chancery Division, the Queen's Bench and the Family Division. The Chancery Division deals with company law, partnership claims, conveyancing, land law, probate, patent and taxation cases, and consists of 17 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.
The Queen's Bench deals with contract and tort (civil wrongs), judicial reviews and libel, and includes specialist courts: the Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court and the Administration Court. The Queen's Bench consists of about 60 judges, headed by the Lord Chief Justice.
The Family Division, which deals with family law and probate cases, consists of about 15 judges headed by the President of the Family Division.
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. High Court judges must have had a right of audience - the right of a lawyer to appear and speak as an advocate in a court case - for all proceedings in the High Court for at least ten years, or have been a circuit judge for at least two 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. Read more about the roles of the clerk.