Appointment on merit vindicated by Judge Bonello

The report of August 6 on the launch of a book containing Judge Bonello's dissenting judgments in the European Court of Human Rights quoted criminal lawyer Joe Giglio as saying that "the book had been possible because there was a convention protecting human rights and because the Maltese government had, in 1987, made this convention part of Maltese law".

Dr Giglio must have been misreported as there has been a Maltese judge on the Strasbourg Court since Malta acceded to the European Convention on Human Rights right after independence. What happened in 1987 was that first, the Labour government, in its dying days, gave the Maltese the right to submit an individual petition to this Court and subsequently, the Nationalist government, in its first legislative enactment, incorporated the Convention in domestic legislation.

Since all domestic remedies have to be exhausted before one goes to the European Court, the incorporation of the Convention in domestic legislation reduced the number of cases going to Strasbourg. In theory, an applicant should be provided a remedy under the Convention by our own courts but this is not always the case. Cases continue to be filed in Strasbourg which, at times, result in an outcome different to that obtaining in the domestic arena.

The Fleri Soler judgment is a case in point and applicants were given a remedy by Strasbourg which the Maltese courts had failed to give. It may well be the case that this is a result of the fact that, as Judge Bonello was reported to have put it, Strasbourg judges have expanded the confines of the Convention through constructive interpretation.

However, it is moot to recall that the book containing Judge Bonello's dissenting decisions is really a result of the fact that he was appointed to the post by the short-lived Labour government.

Alfred Sant may not be the most popular person in various quarters but one must recognise the fact that his government appointed to the prestigious Strasbourg post a highly competent and meritorious individual irrespective of his political inclinations. The results of such an appointment based purely on merit are for all to see as Judge Bonello has distinguished himself in Strasbourg. Were it not for such an appointment, Judge Bonello may well have continued to exercise his profession without attracting the recognition he now universally enjoys. Would it be too much to ask for this example to be emulated across the board? Unfortunately, despite a clear electoral promise, the government has continued with its practice of making appointments which at times may be more the result of political considerations than anything else. One trusts that the electoral promise that all posts will be filled after a call for applications will be implemented sooner rather than later in this legislature as there is a limit to the amount of cynicism the electorate can take. In any case, let us hope that appointments to public posts will be based exclusively on merit both out of a sense of judgment and for this country to move forward in these challenging times.