33.Section 17 provides for the period of appointments to the Commission. The period of appointment is set at the outset and may be any period chosen by Ministers, not exceeding five years. This makes it possible to ‘stagger’ the dates on which appointments expire, avoiding a situation where several members leave office at one time, which could dilute expertise and experience.
34.Members can be reappointed on one occasion and so may serve a total of two consecutive terms. To allow flexibility around the timing of the reappointment process (for example in obtaining parliamentary approval), a person may be reappointed if the person is currently a Member or was a Member in the three months prior to reappointment. All the provisions relating to appointments in this section and sections 15, 16 and 18, including parliamentary approval of appointments, apply to any reappointment.