President chairs Commission meeting

The Office of the President yesterday confirmed that President Guido de Marco had chaired Wednesday's meeting of the Commission for the Administration of Justice, held to discuss the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and Mr Justice Patrick Vella.

A spokesman for the President said Prof. de Marco chaired the three-hour meeting from start to finish.

However, he would not be drawn into whether the President will continue to preside throughout the whole process or abstain.

He could not give this information because the law specifies that proceedings of the Commission under Section 97 of the Constitution shall be held in camera.

The spokesman said the meeting focused on the procedures to be adopted by the commission within the parameters of the law.

He said Magistrate Dennis Montebello was not present at the meeting because he is abroad, while Mr Justice Vincent Degaetano, who was reported not to have attended, did in fact take part.

The government also issued a statement explaining that Attorney General Anthony Borg Barthet was not present at the meeting because he is abroad on government work.

The government started the impeachment process on Saturday after it resulted there was enough proof of wrong-doing by the two judges.

If the commission believes there is a prima facie case to support the impeachment, it will inform parliament to start proceedings, and a two-thirds majority is then required for the impeachment motion to be carried.