45. (1) Where the person making an application under section 43 is—

(a) the Chief Justice,

(b) the President of the Court of Appeal,

(c) a member of the Commission referred to in section 9(1)(c), or

(d) the Attorney General,

he or she shall take no part in the performance by the Commission of the function of selection and recommendation of a person for appointment or for nomination for appointment or election, as the case may be, to the judicial office to which the application relates and, accordingly, shall not attend any meeting of the Commission held for the purpose of the performance of that function and, where the applicant is a member referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), shall not cast a vote in relation to any decision falling to be made by it for that purpose.

(2) Where subsection (1) applies and the applicant is the Chief Justice or the President of the Court of Appeal, he or she shall be replaced as a member of the Commission by the person specified in subsection (3)—

(a) for the purpose of performing the function referred to in subsection (1), and

(b) which person may attend any meeting of the Commission held for the purpose of the performance of that function and cast a vote in relation to any decision to be made by it for that purpose.

(3) The person referred to in subsection (2) is the next most senior judge who—

(a) ranks first in precedence, after the President of the Court of Appeal, in accordance with paragraphs (c) to (k) of section 9 of the Courts of Justice Act 1924,

(b) is not an applicant for the judicial office concerned, and

(c) is available to serve as a member of the Commission for the performance of that function.

(4) Where subsection (1) applies and the person making the application is a member of the Commission referred to in section 9(1)(c), the Board of the Judicial Council (established under section 10 of the Judicial Council Act 2019) shall, subject to subsection (5), nominate one of its members to be a member of the Commission—

(a) for the purpose of performing the function referred to in subsection (1), and

(b) which member may attend any meeting of the Commission held for the purpose of the performance of that function and cast any vote in relation to any decision to be made by it for that purpose.

(5) A member of the Board of the Judicial Council shall, where he or she is making an application in respect of the same vacancy in a judicial office—

(a) take no part in the performance by the Board of the function of nomination referred to in subsection (4), and

(b) shall not be nominated by the Board under that subsection to be a member of the Commission.

(6) The Minister shall appoint a person nominated under subsection (4) to be a member of the Commission for the purpose of performing the function referred to in subsection (1).