CHIEF JUDGE OF THE COURT OF MILITARY APPEALS.

SEC. 1061. CHIEF JUDGE OF THE COURT OF MILITARY APPEALS. (a) Designation and Term of Service.—(1) Section 943(a) (article 143(a)) of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: “(a) Chief Judge.—(1) The chief judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals 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 106 STAT. 2504 “(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 terminated before the end of five years if— “(i) the chief judge leaves regular active service 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 subparagraph (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) Transition Provisions.—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 on the date of the enactment of this Act 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 provision of law was in effect on the date of the designation.