The Chief Justice is the name for the presiding member of a supreme court in many countries with a justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong, the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme Court of Nepal, the Supreme Court of Ireland, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of the United States, and provincial or state supreme courts. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the equivalent position is the Lord Chief Justice and in Scotland, the equivalent is the Lord President of the Court of Session.
The Chief Justice can be selected in many ways, but, in many nations, the position is given to the most senior justice of the court, while, in the United States, it is often the President's most important political nomination, subject to approval by the United States Senate. Although the title of this top American jurist is, by statute, Chief Justice of the United States, the term "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court" is often used unofficially.
In some courts, the Chief Justice has a different title, e.g. President of the Supreme Court. In other courts, the title of Chief Justice is used, but the court has a different name, e.g. the Supreme Court of Judicature in colonial (British) Ceylon, and the Maryland Court of Appeals (in the US state of Maryland).
Read more about Chief Justice: Competence, List of Chief Justice Positions
Famous quotes containing the words chief justice, chief and/or justice:
“On the whole, yes, I would rather be the Chief Justice of the United States, and a quieter life than that which becomes at the White House is more in keeping with the temperament, but when taken into consideration that I go into history as President, and my children and my children’s children are the better placed on account of that fact, I am inclined to think that to be President well compensates one for all the trials and criticisms he has to bear and undergo.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“The chief element in the art of statesmanship under modern conditions is the ability to elucidate the confused and clamorous interests which converge upon the seat of government. It is an ability to penetrate from the naïve self-interest of each group to its permanent and real interest.... Statesmanship ... consists in giving the people not what they want but what they will learn to want.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“Mere human beings can’t afford to be fanatical about anything.... Not even about justice or loyalty. The fanatic for justice ends by murdering a million helpless people to clear a space for his law-courts. If we are to survive on this planet, there must be compromises.”
—Storm Jameson (1891–1986)