and the representative of the private sector for one year. The succeeding members shall then be given the full four-year term. The Chief Justice is appointed by the president from the shortlist submitted by the JBC. The Secretary of Justice, as a member of the Cabinet, is appointed by the president with advice and consent of the Commission on Appointments. The member of Congress is elected by the chamber where the member came from. The regular members were allowed to be reappointed without limit. The Secretary of Justice serves at the pleasure of the president, while the representative of Congress serves until they are recalled by their chamber, or until the term of Congress that named them expires. Finally, the Chief Justice serves until mandatory retirement at the age of 70. The regular members' terms start at July 9. In 2012, a petition at the Supreme Court questioned on who should occupy the seat allocated for Congress. By then, there are two members of Congress in the council, with both having voting rights: the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Justice and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that there should only be one member of the JBC from Congress; the court left to Congress whom among the two would be its representative to the JBC. The council is the only government body that has members from all three branches of the government, excluding ad hoc and advisory bodies. Current membership The members of the Judicial and Bar Council are: Ex officio secretary: Atty. Marife M. Lomibao- Cuevas, as Clerk of the Supreme Court en banc, since March 26, 2021 *Under the current arrangement, the congressman sits from January to June, while the senator sits from July to December. Only one representative is to sit at any time. As a matter of tradition, the two most senior associate justices of the Supreme Court also take part in the JBC deliberations: Marvic Leonen (Senior Associate Justice) Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa (Associate Justice) Function The function of the Council is to recommend to the representatives of possible appointees to the Judiciary. The president shall choose from among those nominated, before the president may ask the Council to nominate somebody else and add it to the list, but this is not allowed anymore. In 2009, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo asked the