(1) The Governor may, by commission under the public seal of the State,
appoint any qualified person as a Judge.
(2) In this section--
"qualified person" means any of the following persons--
(a) a person who is an
Australian lawyer of at least 7 years' standing,
(b) a person who holds or
has held a judicial office of this State or of the Commonwealth, another State
or a Territory,
(c) without limiting paragraph (a) or (b), the Chief
Magistrate of the Local Court.
(3) The following provisions apply to and in
respect of the Chief Magistrate of the Local Court if he or she also holds
office as a Judge--
(a) service by the Chief Magistrate in the office of the
Chief Magistrate (during any period for which he or she also holds office as a
Judge) is, for the purposes of this Act (including section 15) and the
Judges' Pensions Act 1953, taken to be service in the office of a Judge,
(b)
the Chief Magistrate may not hear or determine an appeal in his or her
capacity as a Judge from any decision made by the Chief Magistrate in his or
her capacity as a Magistrate of the Local Court,
(c) nothing in this Act or
any other law requires the Chief Magistrate to devote the whole of his or her
time to the duties of a Judge.
(4) The Governor may, by the
commission of a person's appointment as a Judge or by a subsequent commission
under the public seal of the State, appoint a Judge to be Chief Judge.
(5)
Subject to subsection (6), the Chief Judge shall hold office as Chief Judge so
long as he or she holds office as a Judge.
(6) With the approval of the
Governor, the Chief Judge may resign his or her office as Chief Judge without
resigning his or her office as a Judge.
(7) A Judge shall, while he or she
holds office as such, be deemed to have been appointed a justice of the peace.
(8) A person who vacates office as a Judge may, despite vacating his or her
office, complete or otherwise continue to deal with any matters relating to
proceedings that have been heard, or partly heard, by the person before
vacating his or her office (including proceedings that were instituted before
the commencement of this subsection).
(9) While a person completes or
otherwise continues under subsection (8) to deal with any matters relating to
proceedings that have been heard or partly heard by the person before vacating
office, the person has all the entitlements and functions of a Judge and, for
the purpose of those proceedings, is taken to continue to be a Judge.
