10 U.S.C. § 943 — Art. 143. Organization and employees

Page 845 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 943 the seventh anniversary and the number of years re- ferred to in subparagraph (B) of that paragraph shall be treated as being seven. ‘‘(e) TRANSITION RULES RELATING TO RETIREMENT OF NEW JUDGES.—(1) Except as otherwise provided in para- graphs (2) and (3), a judge to whom subsection (d)(2) ap- plies shall be eligible for an annuity as provided in sec- tion 945 of title 10, United States Code, as enacted by subsection (c). ‘‘(2) The annuity of a judge referred to in paragraph (1) is computed under subsection (b) of such section 945 only if the judge— ‘‘(A) completes the term of service for which he is first appointed; ‘‘(B) is reappointed as a judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces] at any time after the completion of such term of service; ‘‘(C) is separated from civilian service in the Fed- eral Government after completing a total of 15 years as a judge of such court; and ‘‘(D) elects to receive an annuity under such section in accordance with subsection (a)(2) of such section. ‘‘(3) In the case of a judge referred to in paragraph (1) who is separated from civilian service after completing the term of service for which he is first appointed as a judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces] and before completing a total of 15 years as a judge of such court, the annuity of such judge (if elect- ed in accordance with section 945(a)(2) of title 10, United States Code) shall be 1⁄15 of the amount com- puted under subsection (b) of such section times the number of years (including any fraction thereof) of such judge’s service as a judge of the court. ‘‘(f) APPLICABILITY OF AMENDED RETIREMENT PROVI- SIONS.—Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c) and (d), section 945 of title 10, United States Code, as enacted by subsection (c), applies with respect to judges of the United States Court of Military Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces] whose terms of service on such court end after September 28, 1988, and to the survivors of such judges. ‘‘(g) TERMS OF CURRENT JUDGES.—Section 942(b) of title 10, United States Code, as enacted by subsection (c), shall not apply to the term of office of a judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces] serving on such court on the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1989]. The term of office of such a judge shall expire on the later of (A) the date the term of such judge would have expired under section 867(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code, as in effect on the day before such date of enactment, or (B) September 30 of the year in which the term of such judge would have expired under such section 867(a)(1). ‘‘(h) CIVIL SERVICE STATUS OF CURRENT EMPLOYEES.— Section 943(c) of title 10, United States Code, as enacted by subsection (c), shall not be applied to change the civil service status of any attorney who is an employee of the United States Court of Military Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces] on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1989].’’ § 943. Art. 143. Organization and employees (a) CHIEF JUDGE.—(1) The chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces shall be the judge of the court in regular active service who is senior in commission among the judges of the court who— (A) have served for one or more years as judges of the court; and (B) have not previously served as chief judge. (2) In any case in which there is no judge of the court in regular active service who has served as a judge of the court for at least one year, the judge of the court in regular active service who is senior in commission and has not served previously as chief judge shall act as the chief judge. (3) Except as provided in paragraph (4), a judge of the court shall serve as the chief judge under paragraph (1) for a term of five years. If no other judge is eligible under paragraph (1) to serve as chief judge upon the expiration of that term, the chief judge shall continue to serve as chief judge until another judge becomes eligible under that paragraph to serve as chief judge. (4)(A) The term of a chief judge shall be termi- nated before the end of five years if— (i) the chief judge leaves regular active serv- ice as a judge of the court; or (ii) the chief judge notifies the other judges of the court in writing that such judge desires to be relieved of his duties as chief judge. (B) The effective date of a termination of the term under subparagraph (A) shall be the date on which the chief judge leaves regular active service or the date of the notification under sub- paragraph (A)(ii), as the case may be. (5) If a chief judge is temporarily unable to perform his duties as a chief judge, the duties shall be performed by the judge of the court in active service who is present, able and qualified to act, and is next in precedence. (b) PRECEDENCE OF JUDGES.—The chief judge of the court shall have precedence and preside at any session that he attends. The other judges shall have precedence and preside according to the seniority of their original commissions. Judges whose commissions bear the same date shall have precedence according to seniority in age. (c) STATUS OF CERTAIN POSITIONS.—(1) Attor- ney positions of employment under the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces are excepted from the competitive service. A position of employ- ment under the court that is provided primarily for the service of one judge of the court, reports directly to the judge, and is a position of a con- fidential character is excepted from the com- petitive service. Appointments to positions re- ferred to in the preceding sentences shall be made by the court, without the concurrence of any other officer or employee of the executive branch, in the same manner as appointments are made to other executive branch positions of a confidential or policy-determining character for which it is not practicable to examine or to hold a competitive examination. Such positions shall not be counted as positions of that character for purposes of any limitation on the number of po- sitions of that character provided in law. (2) In making appointments to the positions described in paragraph (1), preference shall be given, among equally qualified persons, to per- sons who are preference eligibles (as defined in section 2108(3) of title 5). (Added Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title XIII, § 1301(c), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1572; amended Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1061(a)(1), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2503; Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title IX, § 924(c)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2831; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title X, § 1068(b), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2655; Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title X, § 1073(a)(11), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1900.) Page 846 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 944 Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1997—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–85 made technical amendment to heading and substituted ‘‘under the court’’ for ‘‘under the Court’’ in second sentence and ‘‘positions referred to in the preceding sentences’’ for ‘‘such positions’’ in third sentence. 1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–201 substituted ‘‘Cer- tain’’ for ‘‘Attorney’’ in heading and inserted ‘‘A posi- tion of employment under the Court that is provided primarily for the service of one judge of the court, re- ports directly to the judge, and is a position of a con- fidential character is excepted from the competitive service.’’ after first sentence in par. (1). 1994—Subsecs. (a)(1), (c). Pub. L. 103–337 substituted ‘‘Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces’’ for ‘‘Court of Military Appeals’’. 1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–484 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as fol- lows: ‘‘CHIEF JUDGE.—The President shall designate from time to time one of the judges of the United States Court of Military Appeals to be chief judge of the court.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSITION PROVISION Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1061(b), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2504, provided that: ‘‘For purposes of section 943(a) (article 943(a)) of title 10, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a)— ‘‘(1) the person serving as the chief judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces] on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 23, 1992] shall be deemed to have been designated as the chief judge under such section; and ‘‘(2) the five-year term provided in paragraph (3) of such section shall be deemed to have begun on the date on which such judge was originally designated as the chief judge under section 867(a) or 943 of title 10, United States Code, as the case may be, as that provi- sion of law was in effect on the date of the designa- tion.’’ INAPPLICABILITY OF SUBSECTION (c) Subsec. (c) of this section not to be applied to change civil service status of any attorney who is an employee of United States Court of Military Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces] on Nov. 28, 1989, see section 1301(h) of Pub. L. 101–189, set out as a Transitional Provisions note under section 942 of this title. § 944. Art. 144. Procedure The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces may prescribe its rules of proce- dure and may determine the number of judges required to constitute a quorum. (Added Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title XIII, § 1301(c), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1572; amended Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title IX, § 924(c)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2831.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1994—Pub. L. 103–337 substituted ‘‘Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces’’ for ‘‘Court of Military Appeals’’. § 945. Art. 145. Annuities for judges and survivors (a) RETIREMENT ANNUITIES FOR JUDGES.—(1) A person who has completed a term of service for which he was appointed as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is eligible for an annuity under this section upon separation from civilian service in the Federal Government. A person who continues service with the court as a senior judge under section 942(e)(1)(B) of this title (article 142(e)(1)(B)) upon the expiration of the judge’s term shall be con- sidered to have been separated from civilian service in the Federal Government only upon the termination of that continuous service. (2) A person who is eligible for an annuity under this section shall be paid that annuity if, at the time he becomes eligible to receive that annuity, he elects to receive that annuity in lieu of any other annuity for which he may be eligible at the time of such election (whether an immediate or a deferred annuity) under sub- chapter III of chapter 83 or subchapter II of chapter 84 of title 5 or any other retirement sys- tem for civilian employees of the Federal Gov- ernment. Such an election may not be revoked. (3)(A) The Secretary of Defense shall notify the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage- ment whenever an election under paragraph (2) is made affecting any right or interest under subchapter III of chapter 83 or subchapter II of chapter 84 of title 5 based on service as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. (B) Upon receiving any notification under sub- paragraph (A) in the case of a person making an election under paragraph (2), the Director shall determine the amount of the person’s lump-sum credit under subchapter III of chapter 83 or sub- chapter II of chapter 84 of title 5, as applicable, and shall request the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer such amount from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund to the Depart- ment of Defense Military Retirement Fund. The Secretary of the Treasury shall make any trans- fer so requested. (C) In determining the amount of a lump-sum credit under section 8331(8) of title 5 for purposes of this paragraph— (i) interest shall be computed using the rates under section 8334(e)(3) of such title; and (ii) the completion of 5 years of civilian serv- ice (or longer) shall not be a basis for exclud- ing interest. (b) AMOUNT OF ANNUITY.—The annuity payable under this section to a person who makes an election under subsection (a)(2) is 80 percent of the rate of pay for a judge in active service on the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces as of the date on which the person is separated from civilian service. (c) RELATION TO THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN.—Noth- ing in this section affects any right of any per- son to participate in the thrift savings plan under section 8351 of title 5 or subchapter III of chapter 84 of such title. (d) SURVIVOR ANNUITIES.—The Secretary of De- fense shall prescribe by regulation a program to provide annuities for survivors and former spouses of persons receiving annuities under this section by reason of elections made by such per- sons under subsection (a)(2). That program shall, to the maximum extent practicable, provide benefits and establish terms and conditions that are similar to those provided under survivor and former spouse annuity programs under other re-