Whenever a permanent vacancy shall occur in the office of the Chief Justice or of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, or whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of the Presiding Judge or of a Judge of the Superior Court, the Governor, unless there has been a declaration made pursuant to § 4101(c) of this Title, shall fill such vacancy by appointing a person possessing the qualifications for such office. The Council and the Guam Bar Association may each submit to the Governor a list of qualified nominees for his or her consideration. In evaluating the nominees, the Governor, the Council, and the Guam Bar Association shall consider their char- acter, reputation in the community, experience in the practice of law, and, to the extent that such matters are discernible, whether the nominees possess >judicial temperament.

1985 SOURCE: CCP § 90 as modified.

COMMENT: The 1985 Bill proposed reinstating a true AMissouri Plan@ where the Governor was bound to pick one person from among a list submitted by the Council. This plan was dropped from the 1992 Act and the Governor now selects judges unhindered by any legal requirements of pre- selection by the Council.

The reference to Ajudicial temperament@ comes from American Bar Association suggestions for the selection of judicial candidates. However, some opinion states that one can never predict if a person has or does not have Ajudicial temperament@ or even agree on just what it is. Therefore, the section does not attempt to make evaluation of this sometimes elusive quality mandatory.