Justice Commission to hear case of judge who is club president

The Commission for the Administration of Justice starts meeting on September 13 to determine whether the fact that a sitting judge is also president of a band club violates the judiciary's code of ethics.

The case involves Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco who is president of the St Joseph Band Club of Hamrun.

At its September sitting, the commission will be chaired by President Eddie Fenech Adami, who is its president.

Sources said the issue has already been addressed recently by a sub-committee of the same commission. The sub-committee was chaired by commission vice president Chief Justice Vincent de Gaetano and included Mr Justice Joseph Filletti and Mr Justice Victor Caruana Colombo as members.

A number of questions were sent to Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco last month about the issue. He was asked whether he felt that members of the judiciary should be involved with clubs at all and whether he felt he was bound by the code of ethics.

He was also asked whether the fact that the code of ethics came into force when he was already a judge affected his choice to preside over the band club or whether he felt the code applied only to those who were elevated to the bench after it came into effect. Through his lawyers, George Abela and David Farrugia Sacco, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco replied that as the case was before the commission it was not prudent to make any comments.

The Times also sought a reaction from the Chief Justice. He was asked whether the code of ethics applied to all members of the judiciary or whether it applied only to those who were elevated to the bench after this was published.

The Chief Justice was asked whether there were any dissenting members of the judiciary when the code was introduced and whether it was expected that members of the judiciary followed the code voluntarily or whether this had to be enforced.

No replies were forthcoming from the Chief Justice by yesterday.

The issue took an interesting twist on Friday when President Fenech Adami visited St Joseph band club. He was welcomed by Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco as club president.

A spokesman for the President's office said when contacted yesterday the visit in no way signified any approval or otherwise.

"The President of the Republic received an invitation to visit the club, as he did last year. For the first time, this year the President also received an invitation from the St Cajetan band club.

"The President visited the club not its president, whoever it may be," the spokesman said.