Lord Woolf has signalled he will continue to be a thorn in the Government's side after he retires from his full-time post next month.
The Lord Chief Justice has said that he plans to sit as a judge in the House of Lords where he will hear cases in the country's most important court.
His decision will alarm ministers, who are expecting to have to defend their controversial anti-terror measures in a legal challenge brought to the House of Lords later this year.