Judicial Council Act 2019

Meetings and procedures of Council

9. (1) The Council shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions but in each year shall hold at least one meeting.

(2) The first meeting of the Council shall be held not later than 3 months after the establishment day.

(3) At a meeting of the Council—

(a) the chairperson of the Council shall, if present, be the chairperson of the meeting,

(b) if and so long as the chairperson of the Council is not present, or if the office of chairperson of the Council is vacant, the vice-chairperson of the Council shall be the chairperson of the meeting, and

(c) if and so long as neither the chairperson nor the vice-chairperson of the Council is present, or if the offices of chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Council are vacant, the next most senior judge present shall be the chairperson of the meeting.

(4) Every question at a meeting of the Council shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members of the Council present and voting on the question and, in the case of an equal division of the votes, the chairperson of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

(5) The quorum for a meeting of the Council shall be—

(a) not less than half of the total number of its members, and

(b) not less than one-quarter, or such greater proportion as the Council may determine, of the total number of members of each Court, namely, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court, rounded up to the nearest whole number.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5)(b), the members of each Court shall not include ex officio members of that Court.

(7) Subject to this Act, the Council may regulate its own procedures.

(8) A member of the Council may, in such form and manner as may be determined by the Council in accordance with subsection (7), designate another member of the Council to vote as his or her proxy at a meeting of the Council.