Chief Justice
Chief Justice
Chief Justice, in the United States judicial system, title of the presiding justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and of the presiding justices of the highest tribunals in most of the states. The chief justice of the United States is the highest judicial officer of the nation and is appointed for life by the president with the approval of the Senate. The chief justice orders the business of the Supreme Court and administers the oath of office to the president and vice president upon their inauguration. According to Article 1, Section 3, of the Constitution of the United States, the chief justice is also empowered to preside over the Senate in the event that it sits as a court to try an impeachment of the president.
The chief justices of state supreme courts also order the business of the courts over which they preside. The method of selecting state chief justices varies from state to state. A state chief justice may be chosen by popular election or elected by the state legislature; appointed by the governor with the consent of the legislature or a judicial council; appointed or elected by the other justices of the state supreme court; appointed by a state judicial council; or appointed according to a method of court rotation, seniority of service, or the shortest length of time left to serve in an elected term.
In the British judicial system, the titles lord chief justice and chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas are the equivalent of the U.S. title chief justice. (1)
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