[1] The judiciary is headed by the President of the Court of Appeal or, in the President's absence, the Chief Justice of the High Court or the judge with the highest seniority.
The judges have seniority based on their date of first appointment to a court in the Cook Islands or elsewhere.
[2] A judge cannot hear an appeal for a decision which they made or by a court on which they sit.
A judge can also be appointed by the King's Representative if so advised by the Executive Council and the Prime Minister.
These circumstances are where the High Court decides that the case involves a substantial question of law which relates to the interpretation or effect of the Constitution, where a criminal defendant has been given a fine of over $200 or sentenced to imprisonment for longer than six months, where a civil matter is more $400 or more, or there is a question involving any provision in Part IVA: Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms of the Constitution.