Exhaustive note on Lord Chancellor
1. The Lord Chancellor
The Speaker of the House of Lords is the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, who is Keeper of the Great Seal. He may not leave the country without first notifying the Queen in order that Commissioners may be appointed to affix the Great Seal in his absence. He has been called the Keeper of the. Queen's Conscience since the time of Elizabeth I. The Lords Chancellor declares that the office of Lord Chancellor is tenable by an adherent to the Roman Catholic faith.The Lord Chancellor presides over the House from "the Woolsack," a seat traditionally stuffed with wool, the emblem of England's medieval prosperity.
Because the Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Crown and no elected, the House of Lords never delegated to him authority t keep order, to control the order of speeches or to rebuke recalcitrant members.
The Lord Chancellor is the senior legal and constitutional adviser of the government, a Minister of the Crown and almost invariably a member of the Cabinet.
The Lord Chancellor plays the leading part in the appointment, or recommending the appointment of judges, magistrates and legally qualified chairmen of statutory tribunals in England.
2. Prime responsibility
The Lord Chancellor has the prime responsibility under the Law Commissions Act 1965 for keeping law reform and the revision of statute law under constant review, especially by appointing and considering the reports of the law Commission. It was after the Courts Act 1971 came into force that the Lord Chancellor and his department assumed one of' its major roles and responsibilities. All higher courts and, the county courts in England and Wales are directly administered by the Lord Chancellor's Department through the Courts Service. In 1991 responsibility for magistrates' courts was also transferred to him. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Lord Chancellor to issue a code of practice setting out practices which he considers public authorities should follow in relation to the keeping, management and destruction of their records.3. The Head of the judiciary
The Lord Chancellor is the head of the judiciary in England and Wales, presiding over the House of Lords sitting as the final court of appeal (the Appellate Committee), and over the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council when he is present. It is the Lord Chancellor who determines the composition of the relevant Committee, but in practice this is delegated to the senior Law Lord.4. The President of the Supreme Court
The Lord Chancellor is also President of the Supreme Court, an ex-officio judge of the Court of Appeal and President of the Chancery Division of the High Court. He does not in practice sit in these latte courts, the, senior judge of the Chancery Division now being called Vice-Chancellor; but he is responsible for regulating their business through the Rule Committee. Unlike other senior judges, the Lord Chancellor does not have security of tenure, nor does he necessarily have previous judicial experience before this appointment.5. The chairman of the judicial Committee
Lord Chancellor is also the chairman of the judicial Committee and the legal adviser to the crown. As such he enjoys the following powers:i. The judges of the High Courts are appointed by the Crown on his recommendation.
ii. He appoints the judges of the county Courts and also has the responsibility for the appointment of Justice of Peace.
iii. He can remove the judges of the County Courts and justice of Peace.
iv. He holds the great seal of the Realm which he affixes on behalf of the Crown on all agreements, declarations and treaties.
v. He presides over the House when it sits and the Highest Court of Appeal.
vi. He is the chairman of the Council.
vii. He controls and supervises the Organization of judiciary under the Act of 1925.
viii. He reads over the address of the crown before the House.
ix. The Lord Chancellor gets £ 10,000 a year as his salary and on retirement gets a pension of £ 5.000 per annum.
This note is for preparation of law examinations such as Law GAT and LLB to cover Constitution of the The Great Britain. Constitution of UK.