Puisne Judge

In News

• Chief Justice of India (CJI) has recently reiterated that collegium takes into “consideration the seniority of Chief Justices and senior puisne judges while deciding on recommending judges.

Key points:

•  “Puisne” is a French word meaning “later born” or “younger.”
•  The term is almost always used in the context of judges and denotes seniority of rank.
•  A puisne judge is a judge who is ranked lower in seniority than the Chief Justice of that court.
•  The term is used in common law countries like India and the UK.
• In the UK, a puisne judge is defined as any judge of the High Court besides the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice of England, and the Master of the Rolls.
•  In India, all judges have the same judicial powers, but the Chief Justice is the senior-most judge and has an additional administrative role.
• The reference to a puisne judge in India is only used while considering the order of seniority for appointments and elevations to High Courts, but it does not affect a judge’s judicial power.

Source: IE