their sittings elsewhere upon sufficient cause. The salary of
each Judge of the Court of Appeals shall be that now or
hereafter prescribed by the General Assembly and shall not
be diminished during his continuance in office. Five of the
judges shall constitute a quorum, and five judges shall sit
in each case unless the Court shall direct that an additional
judge or judges sit for any case. The concurrence of a
majority of those sitting shall be sufficient for the decision
of any cause, and an equal division of those sitting in a case
has the effect of affirming the decision appealed from if
there is no application for reargument as hereinafter pro-
vided. In any case where there is an equal division or a three
to two division of the Court a reargument before the full
Court of seven judges shall be granted to the losing party
upon application as a matter of right.

SEC. 14A.¹¹³ The General Assembly may by law create
such intermediate courts of appeal as may be necessary. The
General Assembly may prescribe the intermediate appel-
late jurisdiction of these courts of appeal, and all other
powers necessary for the operation of such courts.

SEC. 14B.¹¹⁴ No member of the General Assembly at
which the addition of Section 14A was proposed, if otherwise
qualified, shall be ineligible for appointment or election as a
judge of any intermediate court of appeal, established by law
by the General Assembly pursuant to said Section 14A, by
reason of his membership in such General Assembly.

SEC. 15.¹¹⁵ Any Judge of the Court of Appeals or of
an intermediate court of appeal who heard the cause below
either as a trial Judge or as a Judge of any intermediate
court of appeal as the case may be, shall not participate in
the decision. In every case an opinion, in writing, shall be
filed within three months after the argument or submission
of the cause; and the judgment of the Court of Appeals
shall be final and conclusive.

SEC. 16.¹¹⁶ Provision shall be made by Law for pub-
lishing Reports of all causes, argued and determined in the
Court of Appeals and in the intermediate courts of appeal,
which the Judges thereof, respectively, shall designate as
proper for publication.

SEC. 17.¹¹⁷ There shall be a Clerk of the Court of
Appeals, who shall be appointed by and shall hold his office
at the pleasure of said Court of Appeals.

SEC. 18.¹¹⁸ (a) The Court of Appeals from time to time
shall adopt rules and regulations concerning the practice
and procedure in and the administration of the appellate
courts and in the other courts of this State, which shall have
the force of law until rescinded, changed or modified by
the Court of Appeals or otherwise by law. The power of
courts other than the Court of Appeals to make rules of
practice and procedure, or administrative rules, shall be
subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the Court
of Appeals or otherwise by law.

(b)¹¹⁹ The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals shall be
the administrative head of the Judicial system of the State.
He shall from time to time require, from each of the judges
of the Circuit Courts, of the District Court and of any
intermediate courts of appeal, reports as to the judicial work
and business of each of the judges and their respective courts.
He may, in case of a vacancy, or of the illness, disqualification
or other absence of a judge or for the purpose of relieving an
accumulation of business in any court assign any judge except
a judge of the Orphans' Court to sit temporarily in any court
except an Orphans' Court. Any judge assigned by the Chief
Judge of the Court of Appeals pursuant to this section has all
the power and authority pertaining to a judge of the court to
which he is so assigned; and his power and authority shall
continue with respect to all cases (including any motion, or
other matters incidental thereto) which may come before him
by virtue of such assignment until his action thereon shall be
completed. In the absence of the Chief Judge of the Court of
Appeals, the provisions of this section shall be applicable to
the senior judge present in the Court of Appeals. The powers
of the Chief Judge set forth in this section shall be subject to
any rule or regulation adopted by the Court of Appeals.

SEC. 18A.¹²⁰ Vacant.

Part IIA—Interim Provisions.

SEC. 18B.¹²¹ (a) For the purpose of implementing the
amendments to this article, dealing with the selection and
tenure of appellate court judges, the following provisions
shall govern.

(b) Each judge of an appellate court who is in office for
an elected term on the effective date of these amendments,
unless he dies, resigns, retires, or is otherwise lawfully re-
moved, shall continue in office until the general election next
after the end of his elected term, or until his seventieth
birthday, whichever first occurs. His continuance in office is
then subject to the provisions of section 5A (c) and (d) of this
article, applicable to judges of that court, but in no event shall
any judge continue in office after his seventieth birthday.

(c) Each judge of a court specified in subsection (b)
who is in office on the effective date of these amendments,
but who has not been elected to that office by the voters,
shall, within fifteen days after the effective date of these
amendments, be reappointed to that office. His continu-
ance in office is then subject to the provisions of section 5A
(c) and (d) of this article, applicable to judges of that court,
but in no event shall any judge continue in office after his
seventieth birthday.

Part III—Circuit Courts.

SEC. 19.¹²² The State shall be divided into eight
Judicial Circuits, in manner following, viz. : The Counties
of Worcester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Dorchester, shall
constitute the First Circuit; the Counties of Caroline, Tal-
bot, Queen Anne's, Kent and Cecil, the Second; the Coun-