Justice Commission ruling provokes the ire of sports organisations

The Malta Olympic Committee (MOC) and the Malta Basketball Association (MBA) have defended their presidents - a judge and a magistrate respectively - from charges that their position within the sports organisations is in breach of the judiciary's code of ethics, saying they could not understand the reason behind this attempt to exclude them.

The sports organisations were reacting to correspondence the Commission for the Administration of Justice sent to Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco and Magistrate Antonio Mizzi informing them that as long as they retain their posts, they were in breach of the code of ethics of the judiciary.

The Commission has just published letters sent to the judge and the magistrate on August 7. The letters were sent by virtue of an article of the Constitution of Malta dealing with the commission and its functions.

One of the functions of the Commission for the Administration for Justice, according to the Constitution of Malta, is to: "...draw the attention of any judge or magistrate on any matter, in any court in which he sits, which may not be conducive to an efficient and proper functioning of such court, and to draw the attention of any judge or magistrate to any conduct which could affect the trust conferred by their appointment or to any failure on his part to abide by any code or codes of ethics relating to him".

The secretary general of the Malta Olympic Committee, Joseph Cassar, said that various people in the international sports world occupy such posts despite being members of the judiciary in their respective countries.

"There is no provision in the Charters of the International Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committee, the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Mediterranean Games and other major international federations which excludes members of the judiciary from holding such positions. The MOC once again expresses its solidarity with both Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and Magistrate Mizzi," he said.

On his part, Frank Camilleri, secretary general of the Malta Basketball Association, said his association agreed with what was stated by the MOC.

"We have not yet met to discuss the matter but something we can surely not understand is how these two members of the judiciary are being excluded from sports, which is the most neutral subject matter in Malta. We wholeheartedly support our president and also Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco. Magistrate Mizzi is a well-respected person in the sphere of basketball, not only in Malta but also on a European level and around the world," he said.

Mr Camilleri said Magistrate Mizzi was elected president of the MBA in 1996, when he was already a magistrate whereas Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco was president of the Tennis Federation before becoming president of the MOC.

"We do not have many resources in Malta and the little we have we are attempting to exclude from participating and contributing. We cannot understand this," he concluded.

Contacted for his comments, the Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said the government does not feature at all in the matter. He said it is the commission that regulates the behaviour of members of the judiciary and it is commission that has to see to the matter.