It is essential for judges and magistrates to remain abreast of changes in the laws they are to uphold. The Judicial Studies Committee, set up for this purpose, celebrated its third anniversary last month.

Continuous judicial education and training is an indispensable tool that enhances the professional ability of judges and magistrates and strengthens their independence and impartiality.

This is precisely why the Judicial Studies Committee (JSC) was set up three years ago.

In a speech delivered during a seminar held to mark the committee's third anniversary, JSC chairman Mr Justice Joseph D. Camilleri explained that the committee aims to enhance the administration of justice by ensuring that judges and magistrates are kept abreast of changes in the law. It ensures they are provided with personal and courtroom skills that enable them to manage their cases effectively and efficiently.

Tracing the committee's history, Mr Justice Camilleri explained how he was introduced to the concept of judicial training when he, together with other European judges, was working on a draft document for the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers. He immediately became aware of the wide range of systems of training in Europe and realised that the Maltese judiciary was "almost totally bankrupt" in this field.

This was unacceptable in a day and age when an enormous amount of legislation was constantly emerging, and when Malta's accession to the European Union meant that a massive body of complicated Community law was grafted on to our judicial system.

"I noted that, unlike us, all European judiciaries were firmly committed to judicial training. I realised that, if we were to keep abreast of this fast-changing legal landscape - both on the home front and the European level - something had to be done to organise judicial training in Malta on a sound and permanent footing," he said.

In 2002, the Justice Minister set up a Training Academy for the training of all court employees and the members of the judiciary. Mr Justice Camilleri realised that a body charged with the training of judges and magistrates, but acting under the control of the Executive, could be perceived to impinge upon the independence of the judiciary.

"I alerted the Chief Justice and the minister to this inherent danger, and, to cut a long story short, a separate entity was created and, thus, the Judicial Studies Committee was born," the judge said.

So, on October 17, 2003, the committee was launched with the aim of identifying and meeting the training needs of the judiciary.

Since then, the JSC has organised several seminars and conferences on a wide range of subjects for judges and magistrates to benefit from. This was mainly achieved through the support of the British High Commission in Malta and the European Commission's specialised unit, Taiex. The committee was also instrumental in securing placements of several judges and magistrates in various training events held abroad.

Mr Justice Camilleri further explained that, for the last two years, the JSC has been a member of the European Judicial Training Network, one of whose aims is to strengthen national institutions charged with judicial training.

He spoke about last year's EU Twinning Light Project entitled Capacity Building In The Justice Sector. The total value of the project was of €276,000, out of which €241,000 were EU funds. Within the framework of this project the Maltese authorities were given various reports drawn up by the experts from the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation, containing their recommendations on how to strengthen the structures and functioning of the Training Academy and the JSC.

This project also aimed to set up a small European documentation facility in the law courts and a selected list of about 100 essential EU law books was drawn up.

"I regret having to state that the procurement of these books, whose value amounts to about Lm15,000, has not been achieved, as the tender failed to be awarded due to some technical difficulty," the judge said.

Mr Justice Camilleri went on to outline other problems faced by the committee, including that it has no office space at the law courts and that it does not have any clerical or secretarial assistance - resources which are absolutely essential for it to function effectively.

"The committee is fully dependent for funding and for all its other necessary resources on the goodwill of the Executive."

Mr Justice Camilleri looked forward to upcoming events such as seminars on competition law, on judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters and on the role of the national courts in the enforcement of Community law.

He concluded by saying that, with hindsight, "we can well and truly say that the culture of ongoing professional development has not only entered our courts of justice, but, is now firmly wedded to the minds of a good number of the members of our judiciary".

An independent judiciary

An independent judiciary is an essential hallmark of a civilised developed community and it is the obligation of this judiciary to keep abreast of the changes in the law.

Speaking at the seminar, Sir Igor Judge, the president of the Queen's Bench Division at the Royal Courts of Justice, in London, spoke about judicial training and independence.

Sir Igor, who was born in Malta to a Maltese mother, outlined how the concept of judicial independence involves not only the undoubted obligation of the judge to fulfil his oath, but carries with it the understanding and reflects the desire of all right-thinking members of the community that the judge is not to be subjected to fear or favour, or asked to display affection or exercise ill will towards one side or the other.

He said that if the community is to accept, as it currently does, that judges should continue to be independent, "the first obligation is that we must maintain our knowledge of the law, keeping up to date with its developments, whether through the courts or through the legislative process.

That is a personal responsibility, both to learn, and to offer to teach from our own experience and by way of example. I do not believe that is unduly burdensome. Indeed, it makes it easier for us to do our jobs."