Senior Courts Act 1981

Changes over time for: Section 91

Version Superseded: 10/03/2022

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91 Deputies and temporary appointments.E+W

(1)If it appears to [F1the Lord Chief Justice] that it is expedient to do so in order to facilitate the disposal of business in the [F2Senior Courts] [F3or any other court or tribunal to which a person appointed under this subsection may be deployed], he may appoint a person—

(a)to act as a deputy for any person holding an office listed in column 1 of Part II F4. . . of Schedule 2; or

(b)to act as a temporary additional officer in any such office,

during such period or on such occasions as [F5[F6the Lord Chancellor may] think fit].

[F7[F8(1ZA)The Lord Chief Justice may not appoint a holder of relevant office under subsection (1) without the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor.]

(1ZB)Section 85 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (selection of certain office holders) does not apply to an appointment to which subsection (1ZA) applies.

(1ZC)In this section a “holder of relevant office” means a person who holds, or has held within two years ending with the date when his appointment under this section takes effect—

(a)any office listed in column 1 of Part 2 or 3 of Schedule 2, or

(b)the office of district judge.]

[F9(1A)If it appears to the Lord Chancellor that it is expedient to do so in order to facilitate the disposal of business in the Senior Courts, he may appoint a person—

(a)to act as a deputy for any person holding an office listed in column 1 of Part 3 of Schedule 2; or

(b)to act as a temporary additional officer in any such office,

during such period or on such occasions as the Lord Chancellor may think fit.]

(2)Subject to subsection (3), a person shall not be qualified for appointment under this section if the office in which he would act by virtue of the appointment is one to which he is not qualified for permanent appointment.

[F10(3)An appointment under this section may extend until the day on which a person attains the age of seventy-five years if it is an appointment of a holder of relevant office.]

(4)Every person, while acting under this section, shall have all the jurisdiction of a person permanently appointed to the office in which he is acting.

F11(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(6)The Lord Chancellor may, out of money provided by Parliament, pay to any person appointed under this section such remuneration and allowances as he may, with the concurrence of the Minister for the Civil Service, determine.

[F12(6A)A person appointed under subsection (1) may be removed from office—

(a)only by the Lord Chancellor with the agreement of the Lord Chief Justice, and

(b)only on—

(i)the ground of inability or misbehaviour, or

(ii)a ground specified in the person's terms of appointment.

(6B)Subject to subsection (6C), the period of a person's appointment under subsection (1) (including a period already extended under this subsection) must be extended by the Lord Chancellor before its expiry; and for this purpose a person appointed under subsection (1) to act under this section on certain occasions is to be treated as having been appointed for a period that expires when the occasions end.

(6C)Extension under subsection (6B)—

(a)requires the person's agreement,

(b)is to be for such period as the Lord Chancellor thinks fit, and

(c)may be refused on—

(i)the ground of inability or misbehaviour, or

(ii)a ground specified in the person's terms of appointment,

but only with any agreement of the Lord Chief Justice, or a nominee of the Lord Chief Justice, that may be required by those terms.

(6D)Subject to the preceding provisions of this section (but subject in the first place to the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993), a person appointed under subsection (1) is to hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of the person's appointment, which are to be such as the Lord Chancellor may determine.]

[F13(7)The Lord Chief Justice may nominate a [F14senior judge (as defined in section 109(5)] of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005) to exercise his functions under [F15subsection (1) or (6A)(a)].]