Casual vacancies
31.—(1) Where a casual vacancy occurs on a Committee, other than the Registration Appeals Committee and the Fitness to Practise Committee—
(a)where the member of the Committee whose office has become vacant was a member of the Council chosen to represent registered optometrists or registered dispensing opticians, the Council shall fill the vacancy by appointing a member of the Council who was chosen to represent the same profession;
(b)where the member whose office has become vacant was a member of the Companies Committee appointed under rule 7, the Council shall fill the vacancy by appointing a person in accordance with the requirements of that rule;
(c)in any other case, the Council shall fill the vacancy by appointing a person who became a member of the Council by virtue of the same provision of paragraph 1 of the Schedule as applied to his predecessor.
(2) A person appointed to fill a casual vacancy in accordance with paragraph (1) shall hold office until the date on which the term of office of his predecessor would have expired.