Legal background Sitting in retirement (SIR)
There was not previously a consistent SIR scheme by which salaried judges were appointed to fee-paid office to sit in retirement. Instead, various statutory provisions were used to give effect to the policy. These included sections 94A and 94B of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and section 9(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1971.
	Once commenced, the SIR provisions in the Act will provide a framework to create a suite of bespoke and distinct offices in which judicial office holders (whether previously salaried or fee-paid) will sit in retirement. The provisions create a single appointing power permitting the relevant senior judge to authorise the appointment (with appropriate concurrence) of a judicial office holder to a distinct office, only to be used for a judicial office holder SIR.
	The Act also provides for a judicial office holder in a SIR office to be authorised to act as and be treated for all purposes as a pre-retired holder of that office, with the exception of matters such as remuneration and tenure (see Section 125(3) of the Bill). The ability to act as and be treated for all purposes as a pre-retired office holder includes the ability to be developed to sit in the same courts and tribunals, subject to the relevant judicial policies.
	To the extent that previous statutory provisions permit only salaried judges to sit in retirement, those provisions are repealed.