Merchant Shipping Act 1979

Tenure of members

1Subject to paragraphs 2 to 4 of this Schedule, a person shall hold and vacate office as a Commissioner or the Chairman in accordance with the terms of the instrument appointing him to that office.

2A person shall not be appointed as a Commissioner and a Commissioner shall not be appointed as the Chairman for a term of more than three years ; but a person may be reappointed as a Commissioner and a Commissioner may be reappointed as the Chairman on or after the date on which he ceases to be a Commissioner or, as the case may be, ceases to be the Chairman.

3(1)A person may at any time resign his office as a Commissioner or the Chairman by giving to the Secretary of State a notice in writing signed by that person and stating that he resigns that office.

(2)If the Chairman ceases to be a Commissioner he shall cease to be the Chairman.

4If the Secretary of State is satisfied that a Commissioner—

(a)has been absent from the meetings of the Commission for a period longer than six consecutive months without the permission of the Commission ; or

(b)is incapacitated by physical or mental illness ; or

(c)is otherwise unable or unfit to discharge the functions of a Commissioner,

the Secretary of State may declare his office as a Commissioner to be vacant and shall notify the declaration in such manner as the Secretary of State thinks fit; and thereupon the office shall become vacant