The Deemsters
There are three full-time judges on the Island known as 'Deemsters.' The First Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls is the Chief Judge of the Island's High Court of Justice and, in the absence of the Governor, acts as Deputy Governor.
The office of Deemster is of very ancient origin. The name is derived from the 'doom' or judgment, which, in olden times before written records were kept, the Deemster gave as 'Breast Law.' At the Tynwald Ceremony it still remains the duty of the Deemsters to promulgate Acts of Tynwald by reading the title of each Act and a memorandum containing a brief statement of its object and purport in Manx and English from Tynwald Hill.