126J.—(1) The Commission shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

(2) The chairperson of a meeting of the Commission shall be—

(a) the chairperson of the Commission if present, or

(b) if and so long as the chairperson of the Commission is not present or if the office of chairperson is vacant, the members of the Commission who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the meeting.

(3) At a meeting of the Commission—

(a) subject to paragraph (c), each member of the Commission present has one vote,

(b) every question at a meeting of the Commission shall be determined by consensus, but where in the opinion of the chairperson or other person presiding consensus is not possible, the question shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question, and

(c) in the case of an equal division of votes in circumstances to which paragraph (b) relates, the chairperson of the meeting has a second or casting vote.

(4) Subject to such standing orders as the Commission may make under subsection (5) regarding a quorum, the Commission may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.

(5) The Commission shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business of the Commission, including the keeping of a record of its meetings and of decisions taken.

(6)(a) The Commission has an absolute discretion to hold an oral hearing in relation to any matter in respect of which functions are conferred on it by this Part and the hearing may be conducted by—

(i) one or more members of the Commission,

(ii) one or more members of the Commission, together with one or more other persons appointed by the Commission for that purpose, or

(iii) one or more other persons appointed by the Commission for that purpose.

(b) The persons (including any members of the Commission) conducting an oral hearing under paragraph (a) shall make a report in writing on the hearing to the Commission and shall include in the report such recommendations as are considered appropriate with respect to the subject of the report.

(c) The Commission shall consider a report made to it under paragraph (b) before deciding on the recommendations that it will make in its report.

(7) Where the number of members of the Commission has been increased by order under section 126I(7)(a), any function of the Commission may be exercised by a division of the Commission comprising of at least 4 of its members and meetings and decisions of any such division are, for all purposes, meetings and decisions of the Commission.]