§18B.

    (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 removed, 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 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.