Editing Peerages in the United Kingdom (section)

===Judicial function===

[[File:Courtroom of the Earl Marshall, Court of Chivalry, College of Arms, London.jpg|thumb|Courtroom of the Earl Marshall, Court of Chivalry, College of Arms, London]]
Until 2009 the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords served as the highest [[appellate court]] within the United Kingdom's legal system. The ''[[Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876]]'' allowed for the appointment of [[Lords of Appeal in Ordinary]] – judges meeting specific criteria made peers for life – who formed the main body of the committee. On 1 October 2009, the ''Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876'' was repealed, owing to the creation of the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]]. The House of Lords thus lost its judicial functions. At the time of creation, the 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (the Law Lords) became the first wave of justices to the Supreme Court but were simultaneously disqualified from sitting or voting in the House of Lords until they retired from the court. Judges appointed to the new Supreme Court are not automatically made peers, but those who have not previously been independently granted a peerage, are entitled to use a [[Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom#Judicial courtesy titles|judicial courtesy title]] of "Lord" or "Lady", with a territorial designation, for their remainder of their lives. In addition to serving as Presiding Officer of the Peers in the Lords, the Lord Chancellor also served as the head of the English and Welsh judiciary and a ''de facto'' 'Justice Minister'. The judicial function of the Lord Chancellor was removed with the ''[[Constitutional Reform Act 2005]]'', and the [[Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales]] became the new head of the judiciary, while the former [[Lord Chancellor's Department|Lord Chancellor's ministry]]/[[Department for Constitutional Affairs]] was merged into the newly created [[Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Justice]] in May 2007. Since then all Lord Chancellors have also held the office of Minister of Justice (in much the same way all [[First Lord of the Treasury|First Lords of the Treasury]] hold the office of Prime Minister). In 2012 [[Chris Grayling]] would be the first non-lawyer to serve as Lord Chancellor for at least 440 years. As the Head of the judiciary in England and Wales, the Lord Chancellor also served as a member of the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]; however, the last lord chancellor to preside as a judge of this court was [[Derry Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg|Lord Irvine of Lairg]] (in office 1997–2003). This function was also removed from the Lord Chancellor following the ''Constitutional Reform Act 2005''.

The [[Earl Marshal]] is the only peer in England and Wales to retain a judicial function by right of office, as the sole judge of the [[High Court of Chivalry]] a [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] court with jurisdiction over matters of [[heraldry]] in England and Wales, though if not a professional lawyer, he normally appoints a professional lawyer as his lieutenant or surrogate. In Scotland the [[Duke of Hamilton]] is a hereditary [[Assessor (law)|assessor]] at the [[Court of the Lord Lyon]], a standing court of law which regulates heraldry in Scotland.