The British practice of addressing judges as "my lord" or "your lordship" is set to end in the next legal term, following a decision of the Superior Courts Rules Committee. From now on judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court will be addressed simply as "Judge".
The committee, presided over by Chief Justice Mr Justice John Murray, made its decision last week. When a court consisting of more than one judge is involved in a case, it should be addressed as "the court", rather than "your lordships", the committee also decided.
This decision has now gone to the Minister for Justice, who is expected to agree the new rule this week, in time for the opening of the new law term after Easter.
Judges of the circuit and district court are already addressed as "Judge", though previously district court judges were addressed as "Justice". They are also referred to in the third person as "Judge".
When spoken of in the third person, judges of the High and Supreme Court will continue to be referred to as "Mr Justice X" and "Miss, Mrs or Ms Justice Y". It is not correct to refer to them as simply "Justice", according to legal sources.