Chief Justices

The second African-American justice to serve on the Supreme Court of America, the appointment of Clarence Thomas in 1991 was controversial. He was accused of sexual harassment by lawyer Anita Hill in public hearings, but was eventually cleared. He is on the conservative side of the court and has been criticised by liberals for opposing issues like gay marriage.

The 27th president of the United States, William Howard Taft also served as the tenth Chief Justice of the US; he is the only person in the history of the US to have held both the offices. He had a great impact as chief justice and has been regarded as the greatest US chief justices of all time.

The current chief White House correspondent for the Fox News Channel, John Roberts has, in his journalistic career, worked for various television and radio channels before joining CTV, CBS News and CNN. The notable works of the veteran award winning journalist and Canadian Broadcast Hall of Famer include coverage of Presidential debates, Hurricane Irene, Iraq invasion and the Israel war.

One of the Founding Fathers of the United States who signed the famous Paris Treaty, John Jay was best known as the first Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, although he occupied various other important public positions. He was a diplomat, who shaped his country’s foreign policy. He passed legislation to gradually abolish slavery, but he himself owned five enslaved people.

John Marshall was an American lawyer and politician. From 1801 to 1835, Marshall worked as the fourth Chief Justice of the US. He remains the longest-serving chief justice in Supreme Court history and is considered one of the most influential Supreme Court justices of all time. In 2005, a commemorative dollar was minted in his honor.

Carrie Lam is a Hong Kong politician who has been serving as the Chief Executive of Hong Kong since 2017. From 2007 to 2012, she served as the Secretary for Development. From 2012 to 2017, Lam was the Chief Secretary for Administration. A controversial leader, Carrie Lam's administration witnessed the criminalization of the Hong Kong National Party.

Jonathan Sumption is a British medieval historian, author, and former senior judge. Between 2012 and 2018, Sumption served as a judge of the United Kingdom's Supreme Court. A former barrister, Jonathan Sumption is well known for his involvement in several legal cases, including the Three Rivers case. 

Sadeq Khalkhali was an Iranian Shia cleric who served as the Head of Islamic Revolutionary Court from 1979 to 1980. He gained notoriety as Iran's hanging judge during the Iranian Revolution and is remembered for ordering the executions of many former government officials, including Nematollah Nassiri and Amir Abbas Hoveida.

Born to Croatian parents in the US, Michael Anthony Bilandic grew up to be an attorney and later joined politics, serving as the mayor of Chicago. The Democratic politician also served as the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. He had also been part of the Marine Corps in World War II.

Robert French is a prominent Australian lawyer and judge. He served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was appointed to the Federal Court in 1986 and was soon elevated to the High Court. After stepping down as the Chief Justice, he was appointed as the chancellor of the University of Western Australia. 

Javid Iqbal was a Pakistani philosopher whose publications on modern Islamic philosophy and the philosophy of law in national and international journals earned international acclaim. Javid Iqbal also served as the Lahore High Court's Chief Justice from 1982 to 1986. From 1986 to 1989, he served as the Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan has also chaired the National Human Rights Commission. He started his legal career as a Kerala Bar Council advocate. In spite of being born to parents who weren’t too educated, he was encouraged to study and also walked almost 5 km to school every day.

Born into an affluent family, M.C. Chagla received an elite education at Oxford. He began his legal career with the Bombay High Court. He had also been part of the Muslim League and had worked under the aegis of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He had been a minister of education and external affairs, too.

Moshe Landau was an Israeli judge who served as the judge of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1953 to 1982. He also served as the President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1980 to 1982. In 1991, Moshe Landau was honored with the prestigious Israel Prize for law.