Part 3The Supreme Court
Appointment of judges
26Selection of members of the Court
1
This section applies to a recommendation for an appointment to one of the following offices—
a
judge of the Supreme Court;
b
President of the Court;
c
Deputy President of the Court.
2
A recommendation may be made only by the Prime Minister.
3
The Prime Minister—
a
must recommend any person F3who is selected as a result of the convening of a selection commission under this section;
b
may not recommend any other person.
F44
Where a person who is not a judge of the Court is recommended for appointment as President or Deputy President, the recommendation must also recommend the person for appointment as a judge.
5
If there is a vacancy in F6the office of President of the Court or in the office of Deputy President of the Court, or it appears to him that there will soon be such a vacancy, the Lord Chancellor must convene a selection commission for the selection of a person to be recommended.
F15A
If—
a
the full-time equivalent number of judges of the Court is less than the maximum specified in section 23(2), or it appears to the Lord Chancellor that the full-time equivalent number of judges of the Court will soon be less than that maximum, and
b
the Lord Chancellor, or the senior judge of the Court, after consulting the other considers it desirable that a recommendation be made for an appointment to the office of judge of the Court,
the Lord Chancellor must convene a selection commission for the selection of a person to be recommended.
5B
In subsection (5A)(b) “the senior judge of the Court” means—
a
the President of the Court, or
b
if there is no President, the Deputy President, or
c
if there is no President and no Deputy President, the senior ordinary judge.
6
Schedule 8 is about selection commissions.
F27
Subsections (5) and (5A) are subject to Schedule 8 (cases where duty to convene a selection commission are suspended).
7A
For the purposes of this section and Schedule 8, a person is selected as a result of the convening of a selection commission if the person's selection is the final outcome of—
a
the selection process mentioned in section 27(1) being applied by the commission, and
b
any process provided for by regulations under section 27A being applied in the particular case.
8
F5Section 27 applies where a selection commission is convened under this section.