(a) A member covered by the revised plan shall become eligible to receive a pension who has:
(1) Completed 12 years of service as a judge, and has attained age 62;
(2) Completed 24 years of service; or
(3) Been involuntarily retired after having served 22 years as a judge.
(b) A member covered by the revised plan who has completed 12 years of service as a judge shall have a vested right to a pension. Such right shall be forfeited upon his or her application for a refund of his or her accumulated contributions.
(c) If a member of the state judiciary shall develop a permanent physical or mental disability, while in office, the member shall, from and after the ascertainment of such disability in the manner hereafter set forth, receive an annual pension from the State, payable in equal monthly installments during the remainder of the member's lifetime. A member of the state judiciary may be deemed to have a permanent physical or mental disability and unable to perform the duties of the member's office after the Board of Pension Trustees has considered a certificate to that effect signed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or if the Chief Justice shall be the subject of such certificate, by the senior Justice of the Supreme Court, and by 3 persons duly licensed to practice medicine or surgery in this State and who have been actively engaged in such practice in this State for at least 10 years immediately preceding the signing of such certificate; said 3 persons to be previously designated by the Trustees.