1The mandate of chairpersons of other courts and prosecution offices, except the Prosecutor General, shall be three years, with the right to re-appointment only once. The mandate of the chairperson of the Special Prosecution Office shall be three years, without the right to re-appointment.

2No later than six months before the end of the first term, the chairperson of a court or a prosecution office with the right to re-appointment may apply for re-appointment for another term. A chairperson who does not apply for reappointment in time shall be treated as having resigned as chairperson at the end of the mandate.

3Where an officiating chairperson applies for re-appointment, no later than three months before the end of the first term he shall be subject to the assets and background check by the relevant Council in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 7 Article 32 of this Law.

4The chairperson shall be appointed to another mandate only if he passes successfully the assessment under the paragraphs 2 to 7 of Article 32 of this Law, and if the performance evaluation as chairperson and as magistrate is at least “very good”.

5Council shall take a decision not later than three months since the end of the mandate of the chairperson.

6Where a chairperson resigns or an application for re-appointment is rejected, the Council shall publish the announcement of the vacancy for the position of chairperson for the candidates meeting the promotion criteria, no later than three months before the end of the mandate of the incumbent chairperson.

7The invitation to apply shall be addressed to the magistrates at the respective court or prosecution office. Where in the respective court or prosecution office a position becomes permanently vacant in the period of two months before the end of mandate of the chairperson to three months after the end of the mandate of the chairperson, the invitation to apply shall be addressed to any magistrate fulfilling the criteria as a chairperson. In the event of the Special Prosecution Office, the invitation to apply for the position of the chairperson shall be addressed only to the prosecutors of that prosecution office.

8In compliance with paragraph 7 of this Article, the call for applications shall be published at least on the official website of the Council and it shall contain the necessary information for the vacancy and it shall determine:

athe deadline for applications, which must be not less than two weeks after the date of the invitation,

bthe information and documents being attached to an application,

cthe procedure for applications and venue where the application has to be submitted.

9The Council shall assess whether the applicants fulfil the criteria as set out in Article 47 paragraph 6 of this Law. It shall carry out the assessment under the provisions of paragraphs 2 to 7 of Article 32 of this Law. Applicants who do not fulfil the criteria set out by Law or who do not successfully pass the asset declaration and background check shall be exempted from the procedure.

10The Councils shall review the applications and shall rank the candidates who fulfil the criteria referring to the following indicators:

afirstly, two previous evaluations. In case of many candidates with the same evaluation grades, the magistrates within the group of candidates with the highest evaluation grade shall be ranked referring to scoring scheme set out by the High Judicial Council;

bsecondly, if based on the evaluation made under letter ‘a’ paragraph 10 of this Article, there is more than one candidate with the highest scores, the Council shall rank these candidates referring to the specific professional experience required for the vacant position;

cthirdly, if based on the evaluation made under letter ‘b’ paragraph 10 of this Article, there is more than one candidate with the highest scores, the Council shall rank these candidates referring to the seniority as magistrates.

11The Council shall appoint the best ranked candidate to the function of the chairperson. The provisions contained in Article 41, paragraphs 2 to 4, of this Law on the assignment of new appointees to positions shall apply mutatis mutandis.

12The Council shall establish more detailed rules which sets out:

acriteria for the ethical and professional performance evaluation among the magistrates with equal evaluation grades;

bcriteria for assessing the organizational and management abilities;

cthe procedure to be followed in cases of equality of scores.