New Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster is announced
His Majesty King Charles has formally approved the appointment of Mr Justice Leech as Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster for three years, from 1 October 2025.
Mr Justice Leech will succeed Mr Justice Fancourt, who was appointed Vice-Chancellor in September 2021.
Until the Courts Act 1971, Chancery work in Manchester, Liverpool and Lancashire (the three areas of the County Palatine of Lancaster) was conducted in a separate court of the County Palatine, presided over by the Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster. Since 1971, the jurisdiction has been incorporated within the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, but the office of Vice-Chancellor was retained as the lead Chancery Judge in the area. It is the coat of arms of the Duke of Lancaster, not the Royal Arms, that adorns the Vice-Chancellor’s court in the Civil Justice Centre in Manchester.