Lord Chancellor
The Lord Chancellor, formally the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking among the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the Prime Minister. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. Prior to their Union into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England (including the Principality of Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland; there were Lord Chancellors of Ireland until 1922.

The Lord Chancellor is a member of the Cabinet and, by law, is responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts. In 2005, there were a number of changes to the legal system and to the office of the Lord Chancellor. Formerly, the Lord Chancellor was also the presiding officer of the House of Lords, the head of the judiciary in England and Wales and the presiding judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, but the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 transferred these roles to the Lord Speaker, the Lord Chief Justice and the Chancellor of the High Court respectively. The current Lord Chancellor, as of November 2020, is Robert Buckland, who is also Secretary of State for Justice.

One of the Lord Chancellor's responsibilities is to act as the custodian of the Great Seal of the Realm, kept historically in the Lord Chancellor's Purse. A Lord Keeper of the Great Seal may be appointed instead of a Lord Chancellor. The two offices entail exactly the same duties; the only distinction is in the mode of appointment. Furthermore, the office of Lord Chancellor may be exercised by a committee of individuals known as Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal, usually when there is a delay between an outgoing chancellor and their replacement. The office is then said to be "in commission". Since the 19th century, however, only lord chancellors have been appointed, the other offices having fallen into disuse.
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Great Officers of State
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United Kingdom
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Prime Minister
Concept
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Sovereign
PER
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Union
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Kingdom of Great Britain
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Kingdom of England
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Principality of Wales
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Kingdom of Scotland
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Lord Chancellors of Ireland
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Cabinet
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House of Lords
Concept
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High Court of Justice
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Constitutional Reform Act 2005
LOC
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Lord Speaker
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Lord Chief Justice
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Chancellor of the High Court
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Robert Buckland
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Secretary of State for Justice
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Great Seal of the Realm
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Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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Lord Chancellor
Concept
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1922
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2005
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2020-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
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