Section 186: Tenure of office of judges

(1) The Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice hold office from the date of their assumption of office until they reach the age of seventy years, when they must retire unless, before they attain that age, they elect to continue in office for an additional five years:

Provided that such election shall be subject to the submission to, and acceptance by the President, after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission, of a medical report as to their mental and physical fitness so to continue in office.

(2) Judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed for a non-renewable term of not more than fifteen years, but—

    (a) they must retire earlier if they reach the age of seventy years unless, before they attain

that age, they elect to continue in office for an additional five years:

Provided that such election shall be subject to the submission to, and acceptance

by the President, after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission, of a medical

report as to the mental and physical fitness of the judge so to continue in office;

    (b) after the completion of their term, they may be appointed as judges of the Supreme

Court or the High Court, at their option, if they are eligible for such appointment.

(3) Judges of the Supreme Court hold office from the date of their assumption of office until they reach the age of seventy years, when they must retire unless, before they attain that age, they elect to continue in office for an additional five years:

Provided that such election shall be subject to the submission to, and acceptance by the President, after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission, of a medical report as to the mental and physical fitness of the judge so to continue in office.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (7) of section 328, the provisions of subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section shall apply to the continuation in office of the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, judges of the Constitutional Court and judges of the Supreme Court.

(5) Judges of the High Court and any other judges hold office from the date of their assumption of office until they reach the age of seventy years, when they must retire.

(6) A person may be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, the High Court or any other court for a fixed term, but if a person is so appointed, other than in an acting capacity, he or she ceases to be a judge on reaching the age of seventy-five years (in the case of a judge of the Supreme Court) or seventy years (in the case of a judge of the High Court or any other court) even if the term of his or her appointment has not expired.

(7) Even though a judge has resigned or reached the age of retirement or, in the case of a judge of the Constitutional Court, reached the end of his or her term of office, he or she may continue to sit as a judge for the purpose of dealing with any proceedings commenced before him or her while he or she was a judge.

(8) A judge may resign from his or her office at any time by written notice to the President given through the Judicial Service Commission.

(9) The office of a judge must not be abolished during his or her tenure of office.

[Section substituted by s. 13 of Act No. 2 of 2021]