Tenure of office of appointed judges of Court of Appeal

125. Tenure of office of appointed judges of Court of Appeal (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person holding the office of an appointed judge of the Court of Appeal shall vacate that office when he attains the prescribed age. (2) Notwithstanding that he has attained the age prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1), an appointed judge may continue in office so long after attaining that age as may be necessary to enable him to deliver judgement or to do any other thing in relation to proceedings that were commenced before him before he attained that age. (3) An appointed judge may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of this section. (4) An appointed judge shall be removed from office by the King if the question of his removal has been referred by the King to a tribunal appointed under subsection (5) and the tribunal has advised the King that the appointed judge ought to be removed from office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour. (5) If the Prime Minister or, in the case of a Justice of Appeal, the President represents to the King that the question of removing an appointed judge under this section ought to be investigated, then - (a) the King shall appoint a tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members, selected in accordance with the provisions of subsection (6) from among persons who hold or have held high judicial office; (b) the tribunal shall enquire. into the matter and report on the facts thereof to the King and advise the King whether the appointed judge ought to be removed from office under this section for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour. (6) When the question of removing the President is to be investigated, the members of the tribunal shall be selected by the Prime Minister and, when the question of removing a Justice of Appeal is to be investigated, the members of the tribunal shall be selected by the President. (7) if the question of removing an appointed judge from office has been referred to a tribunal under subsection (5), the King, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister in the case of the President and in accordance with the advice of the President in the case of Justice of Appeal may suspend the appointed judge from the exercise of the Page 71 the case of Justice of Appeal. may suspend the appointed judge from the exercise of the functions of his office and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the King, acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and shall in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal advises the King that the appointed judge should not be removed from office. (8) The prescribed age for the purposes of subsection (1) is the age of seventy-five years or such other age as may be prescribed by Parliament: Provided that - (a) a person may be appointed as Justice of Appeal for a fixed period of three years notwithstanding that he has attained the age referred to in this subsection or that he will before the expiry of his appointment have attained that age; and (b) an Act of Parliament, to the extent to which it alters the prescribed age after the appointment of a person to be a Justice of Appeal, shall not have effect in relation to that person unless he consents that it should have effect. (9) In this section and section 126 the expression "appointed judge of the Court of Appeal" and the expression "appointed judge" mean a person appointed under section 124(1) or, as the case may be, section 124(2)of this Constitution.