Lord Chancellor
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The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to the union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. There were Lord Chancellors of Ireland until 1922.
The Lord High Chancellor (Viscount Hailsham), as depicted on a cigarette card produced for the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. His ceremonial purse would once have contained the Great Seal of the Realm.
The Lord High Chancellor wearing full ceremonial dress at the 2023 State Opening of Parliament, preceded by his purse-bearer and a serjeant-at-arms.
Heraldic banner of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was the archbishop of York and lord chancellor, showing the arms of the See of York impaling his personal arms, with a cardinal's hat above. The griffin supporter holds the lord chancellor's mace
There are various levels of judiciary in England and Wales—different types of courts have different styles of judges. They also form a strict hierarchy of importance, in line with the order of the courts in which they sit, so that judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales are given more weight than district judges sitting in county courts and magistrates' courts. On 1 April 2020 there were 3,174 judges in post in England and Wales. Some judges with United Kingdom-wide jurisdiction also sit in England and Wales, particularly Justices of the United Kingdom Supreme Court and members of the tribunals judiciary.
Three Lords Justices in their ceremonial robes in procession at Llandaff Cathedral in 2013
Four High Court Justices in their ceremonial robes in procession at Llandaff Cathedral in 2013