103 STAT. 1572 PUBLIC LAW 101-189—NOV. 29, 1989 "(g) EFFECT OF VACANCY ON COUKT. — A vacancy on the court does not impair the right of the remaining judges to exercise the powers of the court. "§ 943. Art. 143. Organization and employees President of U.S. "(a) 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. (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 ATTORNEY POSITIONS. —(1) Attorney positions of employment under the Court of Military Appeals are excepted from the competitive service. Appointments to such positions shall be made by the court, without the concurrence of any other officer or employee of the executive branch, in the same manner as appoint- ments 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 positions of that character provided in law. "(2) In making appointments to the positions described in para- graph (1), preference shall be given, among equally qualified per- sons, to persons who are preference eligibles (as defined in section 2108(3) of title 5). "§ 944. Art. 144. Procedure "The United States Court of Military Appeals may prescribe its rules of procedure and may determine the number of judges required to constitute a quorum. "§ 945. Art 145. Annuities forjudges 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 Military Appeals is eligible for an annuity under this section upon separation from civilian service in the Federal Government. "(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 in of chapter 83 or subchapter II of chapter 84 of title 5 or any other retirement system for civilian employees of the Federal Government. Such an election may not be revoked. "(3)(A) The Secretary of Defense shall notify the Director of the Oflfice of Personnel Management whenever an election under para- graph (2) is made affecting any right or interest under subchapter in of chapter 83 or subchapter II of chapter 84 of title 5 based on service as a judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals. "(B) Upon receiving any notification under subparagraph (A) in the case of a person msiking an election under paragraph (2), the Director shall determine the amount of the person's lump-sum
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