Minister Gatt's comments

I will not let the occasion pass without noting publicly how much I admire Minister Austin Gatt for certain initiatives and comments he deems fit to make on our judiciary. I say this with particular reference to the interview he recently gave wherein he touched on the lifestyle of judges and magistrates.

Indeed, in my opinion, those responsible for the appointment of these public figures are also to bear the responsibility for the behaviour of the same. Which consideration points out to the serious need of scrutinising carefully a person's lifestyle even before entrusting to that same person certain posts of responsibility, in our case those connected with the administration of justice. Whether the person in question be a man or a woman!

I find it very sad to come to conclusions as to what people think of judges and magistrates "going to Paceville at 3 a.m." and keeping on "dancing till 5 a.m." What one expects from such is humanly inevitable.

The smirch on our judiciary has not been brought about merely by the recent alleged and unenviable events involving two eminent members of the bench. Nor has the path leading to it started being trodden only recently. Very far from it!

We are only reaping what has been being sown for years and years. Only that certain anomalies in the system and certain personal abuses were until now being kept well covered up and hidden from the public view.

Minister Gatt, unlike various of his predecessors in office, has been courageous enough as to denounce what should have been publicly and unhesitatingly denounced long ago. We must thank him for that.