Chancellor of the High Court


The Chancellor of the High Court, known until 2005 as the Vice-Chancellor of the High Court, is the head of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. This judge and the other two heads of divisions sit by virtue of their offices often, as and when their expertise is deemed relevant, in a panel in the Court of Appeal. As such this judge ranks equally to the President of the Family Division and the President of the King's Bench Division.
From 1813 to 1841, the solitary and from 1841 to 1875, the three ordinary judges of the Court of Chancery – rarely a court of first instance until 1855 – were called vice-chancellors. The more senior judges of the same court were the Lord Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls. Each would occasionally hear cases alone or make declarations on paper applications alone. Partly due to the old system of many pre-pleadings, pleadings, and hearings before most cases would reach Chancery the expense and duration of proceedings was pilloried in art and literature before the reforms of the late 19th century. Charles Dickens set Bleak House around raised hopes in a near-incomprehensible, decades-long case in Chancery, involving a decision on an increasingly old will which was rendered useless as all of the deceased's wealth was – unknowingly to the prospective beneficiaries – absorbed in legal costs. Reform swiftly followed.
Certain acts of Parliament between the 1870s and 1899 merged the courts of law and those of equity, bringing an end to the position of vice-chancellor in 1875. In 1971, the title of Vice-Chancellor was revived for the president of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice. In 2005, the judicial functions of the Lord Chancellor were abolished and the position of Vice-Chancellor was renamed Chancellor of the High Court.

Ireland

An equivalent position existed in Ireland between 1867 and 1904 when the office was abolished. Throughout that period it was held by Hedges Eyre Chatterton.

Vice-chancellors, 1813–1875

Because of an increase in caseload in the Court of Chancery for its two judges, an additional judicial office, the Vice-Chancellor of England, was created by the Administration of Justice Act 1813 to share the work. With the transfer of the equity jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery from the Court of Exchequer, two vice-chancellors were added in 1841 by the Chancery Act 1841, with the caveat that no successor for the second of the two new judges could be appointed. Lancelot Shadwell died in office in 1850 and the three vice-chancellors became of equal status, with the "of England" dropped. In 1851, Parliament relented so a successor to Wigram could be named to keep the number at three, but again with the caveat that no future successor could be appointed. The caveat was lifted by section 52 of the Master in Chancery Abolition Act 1852, so the number became fixed at three until the next major court reforms.
After the Judicature Acts, which merged the Court of Chancery and various other courts into the new High Court of Justice, came into force, new vice-chancellors were not appointed: new judges of the Chancery Division became styled "Mr. Justice..." like other High Court judges.
A new judicial post of Vice-Chancellor was created by section 5 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, which came into effect on 1 October 1971. Under its provisions the Vice-Chancellor was appointed by the Lord Chancellor. He became responsible to the latter for administering the division. The Senior Courts Act 1981 made the position one appointed by the Queen and made the Vice-Chancellor vice-president of the Chancery Division.
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 removed the Lord Chancellor's role as a judge. As one of the judicial roles of the office was president of the Chancery Division, the office of Vice-Chancellor was renamed Chancellor of the High Court and replaced the Lord Chancellor. The name change took effect on 1 October 2005, but some of the responsibilities did not transfer until 3 April 2006.