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18-850: The Northern Circuit is a circuit of the General Council of the Bar and English judiciary . The Northern Circuit stretches from Carlisle in Cumberland at its northernmost point, running through Lakeland to the port of Whitehaven in the West, on through Preston and Burnley in Lancashire to Manchester , Liverpool and Chester . It has chambers in Cheshire , Liverpool, Manchester, and Preston. It dates from 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit originally encompassed

36-464: A county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county , and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament . Following the establishment of county councils in England 1889, the headquarters of the new councils were usually established in the county town of each county; however, the concept of a county town pre-dates these councils. The concept of

54-504: A county town is ill-defined and unofficial. Some counties in Great Britain have their administrative bodies housed elsewhere. For example, Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire , but the county council is in Preston . Due to the creation of unitary authorities , some county towns in Great Britain are administratively separate from the county. For example, Nottingham is separated from

72-581: Is Jaime Hamilton KC, elected in 2022. Other members with leadership roles include: There have been a number of famous members, such as F. E. Smith (later to become Lord Birkenhead ), Lord Shawcross QC (Leading Counsel at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II) and George Carman QC . Since 1876 the Circuit which presently comprises 10 per cent of the Bar has produced the following judges: In 2001, one Law Lord , three Lord Justices of Appeal (including

90-571: Is called a circuit and recognised by the Bar Council , it does not serve any administrative or judicial purposes. Circuits are divided along local authority area borders. The term "circuit" is derived from the English custom of itinerant courts whose judges periodically travelled on pre-set paths—circuits—to hear cases from different areas. In 1293, a statute was enacted which formally defined four assize circuits. These would change frequently over

108-573: Is overseen by the Lord Chancellor . Each circuit elects a leader to represent it, to serve a three-year term. The current leaders are: Potential leaders must be King's Counsel . A circuit may also appoint other leadership positions, such as a circuit junior or treasurer , who will often form its executive committee . Circuit leaders are entitled to sit on the Bar Council ex officio . County town In Great Britain and Ireland ,

126-577: Is represented on the Bar Council through its leader and other appointed representatives. They are closely linked with specialist bar associations , who may appoint representatives to each circuit. Circuits also serve a judicial function as judges (except for judges of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court ) are appointed to, and will only sit in, a specific circuit. This avoids judges having to travel large distances to hear cases. The circuits system

144-556: The 1969 Beeching Commission, which recommended the merger of the Midland and Oxford circuits. Since then only minor boundary changes have been made, such as in the 1998 Review of Criminal Justice Boundaries. Circuits effectively function as professional associations for barristers, providing support and advice for their members. They work with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and other government bodies, as well as hosting continuing professional development and social events. Each circuit

162-566: The Vice President of the Court of Appeal , Criminal Division), one Lady Justice of Appeal and 12 High Court Judges were members of the Northern Circuit. In 1994, of the five female High Court Judges, four were Northern Circuiteers. Rose Heilbron QC was the first female High Court judge from the Circuit, 20 years earlier. There have been other members who have attained fame outside the law –

180-421: The ancient counties and county towns were restored. (Note: not all headquarters are or were called County Halls or Shire Halls e.g.: Cumbria County Council's HQ up until 2016 was called The Courts and has since moved to Cumbria House.) Before 1974, many of the county halls were in towns and cities that had the status of a county borough i.e. a borough outside the county council's jurisdiction. The follow lists

198-523: The author John Buchan , W. S. Gilbert and James Boswell , the biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson . Boswell was Junior of the Circuit. Circuits of England and Wales There are six circuits in total: Midland, Northern , North Eastern, Western, Wales and Chester, and South Eastern. There is also the European Circuit, which is an association of barristers with interests in European law. Though it

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216-569: The centre of Norman power within the new county (Caernarfonshire named for Caernarfon, Monmouthshire named for Monmouth) others were named after the previous medieval Welsh kingdoms (Ceredigon becomes Cardigan, Morgannwg becomes Glamorgan). The 1535 Laws in Wales Act established the historic counties in English law , but in Wales they were later replaced with eight preserved counties for ceremonial purposes and

234-456: The location of the administration of each of the 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland, with 26 of the traditional counties. Note – Despite the fact that Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, it is not the county town of any county. Greater Belfast straddles two counties – Antrim and Down. Jamaica's three counties were established in 1758 to facilitate the holding of courts along

252-460: The next few centuries. By the 1500s, there were six different circuits: Home , Midland, Northern, Oxford, Northern, and Western. This remained largely constant until the 19th century. Twice each year, judges "literally rode each circuit," meaning that a pair of common law judges assigned to a circuit rode on horseback through all the county towns and several other important towns in each circuit and heard cases. The current circuits originate from

270-531: The rest of Nottinghamshire , and Brighton and Hove is separate from East Sussex . On a ceremonial level, both are in their own respective counties geographically. This list shows towns or cities which held county functions at various points in time. Following the Norman invasion of Wales , the Cambro-Normans created the historic shire system (also known as ancient counties). Many of these counties were named for

288-612: The territory of the newly formed North-Eastern Circuit . The two circuits have maintained strong links. In 1876, 62 members of the Bar had chambers on the circuit. There were 29 in Liverpool, 32 in Manchester and 1 solitary practitioner in Preston. Today the circuit has a membership of some 1100 barristers of whom about 77 are Queen's Counsel , practising from chambers in Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Chester . The current circuit leader

306-740: The twenty two principal areas are used for administrative purposes. Neither of these subdivisions use official county towns, although their administrative headquarters and ceremonial centres are often located in the historic county town. With the creation of elected county councils in 1889, the administrative headquarters in some cases moved away from the traditional county town. Furthermore, in 1965 and 1974 there were major boundary changes in England and Wales and administrative counties were replaced with new metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties . The boundaries underwent further alterations between 1995 and 1998 to create unitary authorities , and some of

324-556: The whole of the North of England. In 1863, Yorkshire was transferred to the Midland Circuit. In 1873, Durham and Lancashire were added, following the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873. In 1876, the Circuit was divided in two. That part to the west of the Pennines (Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire) retained the old name. The land to the east (Northumberland, Yorkshire and Durham) became

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