Chief justices to meet in Malta

The second meeting of chief justices of Small Commonwealth Nations will be held here on Friday.

It will be hosted by Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano at the Courts of Justice, in Valletta.

The informal group, which met for the first time last year at St Helier in Jersey, consists of the chief justices of eight of the smallest jurisdictions in the commonwealth - Gibraltar, Bermuda, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Malta. The meetings are meant to enable the heads of the judiciaries to discuss and exchange views on matters of mutual interest particularly in the light of the problems common to very small jurisdictions.

Among the topics to be discussed include the protection of judges from external, political, economical and social influences; the relationship between the media and the criminal judicial process; and the supervision of the conduct and behaviour of judges.

The chief justices will pay a courtesy call on President Eddie Fenech Adami.