14.—(1) Where a person who holds judicial office is appointed to be a Commissioner, the following provisions shall have effect;

F3[(a) in case on being so appointed such person is a judge of the Supreme Court, other than the Chief Justice or a judge who is ex-officio an additional judge of that Court, then for so long as such person continues to hold that judicial office, the number of ordinary judges of the Supreme Court otherwise provided for may be exceeded by one:

Provided that, in the case of a former Chief Justice to whom section 4 (2) of the Courts (No. 2) Act, 1997, relates, for so long as such person continues to hold the judicial office held on being so appointed, such person shall not be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (1) of section 6 of that Act and any vacancy consequent on the application of that subsection to such person may be filled but without prejudice to the application of that subsection to that person upon his or her ceasing to be so appointed but remaining a former Chief Justice to whom the said section 4(2) relates,

F4[(aa) in case on being so appointed such person is the President of the Court of Appeal or another judge of the Court of Appeal, other than a judge who is ex officio an additional judge of that Court, then for so long as such person continues to hold the judicial office held by such person on so being appointed, the number of ordinary judges of the Court of Appeal otherwise provided for may be exceeded by one:

Provided that, in the case of a former President of the Court of Appeal to whom section 4(2) of the Courts (No. 2) Act 1997 relates, for so long as such person continues to hold the judicial office held on being so appointed, such person shall not be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (1A) of section 6 of that Act and any vacancy consequent on the application of that subsection to such person may be filled but without prejudice to the application of that subsection to that person upon his or her ceasing to be so appointed but remaining a former President of the Court of Appeal to whom the said section 4(2) relates,]

(b) in case on being so appointed such person is the President of the High Court or another judge of the High Court, other than a judge who is ex-officio an additional judge of that Court, then for so long as such person continues to hold the judicial office held by such person on so being appointed the number of ordinary judges of the High Court otherwise provided for may be exceeded by one:

Provided that, in the case of a former President of the High Court to whom section 4(2) of the Courts (No. 2) Act, 1997, relates, for so long as such person continues to hold the judicial office held on being so appointed, such person shall not be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (2) of section 6 of that Act and any vacancy consequent on the application of that subsection to such person may be filled but without prejudice to the application of that subsection to that person upon his or her ceasing to be so appointed but remaining a former President of the High Court to whom the said section 4(2) relates,]

(c) in case he is the President of the High Court he may, for so long as he continues to be a Commissioner, from time to time appoint an ordinary judge of the High Court to exercise on his behalf (and which judge is hereby empowered to exercise) all the jurisdiction exercisable by the President of the High Court under section 10 (5) of the Act of 1961.

(2) F5[Subject to subsection (2A) of this section, when a person who is a barrister or a solicitor is appointed] to be either—

(a) a Commissioner in a whole-time capacity, or

(b) a whole-time officer of the Commission,

then, for the purpose of qualification for appointment—

(c) under section 5 (2) (a) of the Act of 1961, as a judge of the Supreme Court F4[, the Court of Appeal] or the High Court,

F6[(d) under subsection (2) or (2B) of section 17 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961, as a judge of the Circuit Court, ]

F7[(dd) under section (4)(b) (inserted by section 188 of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012) of section 17 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961, as a specialist judge of the Circuit Court,]

(e) under section 14 of the Act of 1936, to act temporarily as a judge of the Circuit Court,

(f) under section 29 (2) of the Act of 1961, as a justice of the District Court,

(g) under section 51 (as amended by section 48 (8) of the Act of 1961) of the Act of 1936, to act temporarily as a justice of the District Court,

service by him as such a Commissioner or as such an officer of the Commission, as may be appropriate, F5[shall be deemed to be practice as a barrister or a solicitor, as may be appropriate].

F8[(2A) Service as a Commissioner in a whole-time capacity or a whole-time officer of the Commission shall not be deemed to be practice as a barrister or a solicitor to satisfy the requirement in subsection (2)(a) of section 5 (as amended by section 4 of the Courts and Court Officers Act, 2002) of the Act of 1961 of a continuous period of not less than 2 years practice by a person as a barrister or a solicitor immediately before the appointment of the person as a judge of the Supreme Court F4[, Court of Appeal] or the High Court.]

(3) F9[…]

(4) In this section—

“the Act of 1936” means the Courts of Justice Act, 1936;

“the Act of 1961” means the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961.