Page:Constitution of Rhodesia, 1965.pdf/33

 The Judge President and other judges of appeal shall not, except with the consent of the Judge President, sit as judges of the general division. The general division shall be a superior court of record with full jurisdiction, civil and criminal, over all persons and over all matters within Rhodesia.

A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge of the High Court unless- he is or has been a judge of a superior court in a country in which the common law is Roman-Dutch and English is an official language, or he is, and has been for not less than ten years, qualified to practise as an advocate in Rhodesia or in a country in which the common law is Roman-Dutch and English is an official language. In computing, for the purpose of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, the period during which any person has been qualified to practise as an advocate, any period during which he has held judicial office after having so qualified shall be included. A judge of the High Court shall not enter upon the duties of his office unless he has taken before the Officer Administering the Government or some person authorized by the Officer Administering the Government in that behalf, the oath of loyalty and the judicial oath in the forms set out in the First Schedule.

The Chief Justice shall be a person qualified for appointment under the provisions of subsection (1) of section 58 and shall be appointed by the Officer Administering the Government on the advice of the Prime Minister, by instrument under the public seal. Whenever it is proposed to appoint to the office of Chief Justice a person who does not hold the office of judge of the High Court, the Prime Minister shall, before tendering advice to the Officer Administering the Government under subsection (1) of this section, consuit the person holding the office of Chief Justice (or, if the office is vacant, the person who last vacated it) and the Judge President (if he is not the person proposed to be appointed) and the other judges of the High Court: Provided that the Prime Minister shall not be obliged to consult the person holding the office of Chief Justice or who last vacated it or the person holding the office of Judge President if by reason of infirmity of body or mind of that person or for any other reason it is impracticable to do so 30