A SHAKE-UP of posts at the top of the judiciary was triggered yesterday with the announcement that Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, is to step down.

Lord Woolf’s position as Britain’s most senior judge will be taken by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who is currently the Master of the Rolls and the head of civil justice.

Lord Phillips, 67, a highly regarded judge who made his mark handling the Maxwell fraud trial in 1996 and the BSE inquiry from 1998 to 2000, will take over on October 1, as the role of Lord Chief Justice assumes a new crucial role on behalf of the judiciary.

With the Lord Chancellor now stripped of responsibility for the judges, Lord Phillips will act as their new head, voicing judges’ concerns and protecting their interests.

Lord Woolf, who turned 72 this month, delayed his retirement, which he had originally planned for 2003, to fight the judges’ corner over the Government’s constitutional reforms and the dismantling of the office of Lord Chancellor.

He now feels able to depart, with the changes on the statute book, complete with a deal or “concordat” that he secured to enshrine the constitutional role of judges and protect their independence. Under the package of changes announced by Downing Street yesterday, Lord Justice Clarke, an Admiralty law judge who chaired the inquiries into the Marchioness and Bowbelle disaster, takes over as Master of the Rolls.

The appointment of Lord Phillips may disappoint Lord Justice Judge, a leading criminal judge and Lord Woolf’s deputy, who had been the other chief contender for the post. He has, however, been given a new job as President of the Queen’s Bench Division, freeing the new Lord Chief Justice from this post for more over-arching and administrative duties. This includes running a new mini-ministry of civil servants, including the judges’ own media office.

Lord Phillips has impressed ministers with his modernising measures to the civil justice system and attempts to cut trial costs and delays, continuing reforms started by Lord Woolf. It is likely, however, that his tenure will be more about consolidation than the confrontation with the executive that marked Lord Woolf’s last years.

If he is seen as more conservative on social policy issues, he is also regarded as radical in terms of the traditions of the judicial world. He is extremely fit and athletic, he likes fell walking and was to be spotted recently in the vanguard of a lawyers’ six-mile charity run in London, sporting a baseball cap. He dislikes wearing wigs and has complained of the need for judges to have five judicial outfits, favouring a move to a simple gown and collar.

Once the job of Lord Chief Justice would automatically go to a senior criminal judge. But that tradition was broken with the appointment first of Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Woolf’s predecessor; and then Lord Woolf in June 2000.

Lord Phillips is known for his work in civil justice, but he does have experience of criminal trials and his handling of the fraud trial of the sons of the late Robert Maxwell was regarded as exemplary.

Yesterday he said: “I am honoured to have been appointed to succeed Lord Woolf as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. I am looking forward to taking up this office in October and in the intervening period I shall be working closely with Lord Woolf in preparation for the handover.”

In a recent interview with The Times Lord Phillips made clear that he was prepared to tackle shibboleths that other judges would not dare to touch. He expressed his view that the High Court and county court should be joined to create a unified civil court.

Lord Justice Clarke, 62, his successor as Master of the Rolls, is regarded as young for the job. He went to King’s College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar in 1965, took silk in 1979 and became a High Court judge in 1993.

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LORD PHILLIPS OF WORTH MATRAVERS

Born 1938

Education Bryanston School; King’s College, Cambridge

Employment Called to the Bar, Middle Temple 1962; Junior Counsel to Minister of Defence and Treasury in Admiralty Matters 1973-78; made QC in 1978.

Judicial career Recorder 1982-87; High Court judge 1987-95; Appeal Court judge 1995-98; BSE Inquiry 1998-2000; Master of the Rolls 2000-05.

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