Northern Ireland Act 1998

Tenure of office U.K.

[F1 2 (1) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, a person holds office as the Commissioner in accordance with the person’s terms of appointment.

(2) A person may not be appointed as Commissioner for more than five years at a time, or more than twice.

(3) A person may at any time resign as Commissioner by notice in writing to the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

(4) The First Minister and deputy First Minister acting jointly may dismiss a person from office as Commissioner by notice in writing if satisfied that the person—

(a) has, without reasonable excuse, failed to discharge the functions of the office for a continuous period of three months beginning not earlier than six months before the day of dismissal;

(b) has been convicted of a criminal offence;

(c) has become bankrupt or the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order, a debt relief order or a debt relief restrictions order, or has made a voluntary arrangement;

(d) is unable or unfit to perform the functions of the office.

(5) Each of the expressions used in sub-paragraph (4)(c) has the same meaning as in the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405 (N.I. 19).]

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 9B inserted (22.5.2023) by Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 (c. 45), s. 10(2), Sch. 2; S.I. 2023/566, reg. 2(d)