Constitutional Reform Act 2005 Explanatory Notes

Part 2 Dissolution.Any Selection commission

93.Part 2 of this Schedule sets out the circumstances in which a selection commission is dissolved.

94.In the normal course of events the commission would be dissolved when the Lord Chancellor notifies a selection made by the commission. That is to say, when a selection of a person by the commission is accepted by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chancellor notifies the Prime Minister for recommendation of that person for appointment, the commission is dissolved, being functus officio (paragraph 10).

95.Paragraphs 1112 provide that the commission will also be dissolved in various circumstances in which it ceases to be properly constituted. These are: if a member of the commission dies or becomes incapacitated; if a person nominated from a territorial commission either resigns his membership of the selection commission or ceases to be a member of the territorial commission from which he has been appointed; if someone who is a member of the commission by virtue of holding high judicial office ceases to hold that office; or if the non-legally qualified member (or members) of the commission ceases (or all cease) to be non-legally qualified.

96.Paragraphs 11(2) and 12(2) provide that in such cases, rather than the commission continuing with fewer members, or a changed balance of backgrounds, or a different balance of representation, a new selection commission has to be convened by the Lord Chancellor as soon as practicable after dissolution.

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