"Be you ever so high, the law is above you!"

The breaking news of police investigations involving Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and Mr Justice Patrick Vella in connection with their handling of a recent criminal appeal relating to drug trafficking charges was received with utter horror and disbelief not only by the legal profession but by the country at large.

No charges have as yet been brought forward against the judges concerned, as the matter is still in the investigative stage. And of course like other individuals the judges are equally entitled to the full protection which the law extends to the accused, notably among which is the fundamental right of presumption of innocence until proven guilty before an independent and impartial court of law. I have myself already employed the word "disbelief".

However, the very fact of publicising the investigations underway has shattered the confidence of the public in the judiciary, and that in itself is a very sad thing indeed.

It has often been said that as a prerequisite for such confidence, justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done.

For all the many defects innate in our system for the administration of justice, the integrity and honesty of the judiciary is something which has always made us proud.

It will be a monumental task to restore this, necessitating the fullest cooperation between the bench and the bar, and the strictest enforcement of high standards of professional ethics all round.

Politicians, and the press, will also have their own responsible parts to play. Indeed we are in dire straits.

The immediate concern now is the welfare of the judiciary as the third pillar in our democracy.

Optimism, however, is never out of place, and there is always a positive side to every experience in life.

I would say that shocking though the news may have been, it has tangibly shown that our country applies the principle that we are all equal before the law.

As is so prominently displayed in Italian courtrooms, La legge è uguale per tutti.

Certainly, it has given full meaning and force to what Lord Denning once so tellingly pronounced: "Be you ever so high, the law is above you!" All of this practical application of lofty principles, one hopes, will be a salutary exercise in itself. Time will be the true judge.