A life tenure or service during good behaviour is a
term of office that lasts for the office holder's lifetime, unless the office holder decides personally to resign or is removed from office because of misbehaving in office or due to extraordinary circumstances.
Some
judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
s and members of
upper chambers (e.g.,
senators for life) have life tenure. The primary goal of life tenure is to insulate the office holder from external pressures. Certain heads of state, such as
monarch
A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...
s and
presidents for life, are also given life tenure.
United States federal judge
In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. S ...
s have life tenure once appointed by the
president and
confirmed by the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
In some cases, life tenure lasts only until a mandatory retirement age. For example,
Canadian senators are appointed for life, but are forced to retire at 75. Likewise, many judges, including justices of the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
, have life tenure but must retire at 75. In some jurisdictions, a judge who reaches mandatory retirement age may continue to serve as a
supernumerary judge A supernumerary judge or supernumerary magistrate is a judge who has retired from a full-time position on a court, but continues to work part-time. Generally, when a judge becomes supernumerary, a vacancy is created, and the appropriate person or bo ...
, but may no longer have the guarantees of tenure.
Life tenure also exists in various religious organizations. The
Pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
, as the Bishop of Rome and leader of the worldwide
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, has life tenure, but other Catholic bishops are required to submit their resignations at age 75.
Canon 401 §1
/ref>
Senior professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
s at academic institutions may also be granted life tenure
Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...
, which is intended to protect principles of academic freedom.
References
Selection of judges in the United States
*Life tenure
Term of office
{{job-stub