Accused judges

A former Chief Justice had been accused of corruption in the 1960s but the charge fell through in a libel suit.

A man called Joseph Darmanin distributed leaflets claiming that bank owner Marquis John Scicluna had cancelled Chief Justice Sir Arturo Mercieca's debt with the bank in return for a favourable judgment in a case between Mr Darmanin and the marquis three decades earlier.

Sir Arturo denied the allegation and filed a libel suit accusing Mr Darmanin of defamation. Following an examination of the bank records, it emerged that the claim was unfounded.

On February 16, 1964, Mr Darmanin was imprisoned for 20 days by Magistrate Joseph Debono.

Edward Attard, a crime historian, said the case involved thousands of liri and it had emerged that documents important to the proceedings had been lost in court.

Mr Attard also recalled the case of Magistrate Emmanuele Grech, who, in the 1920s, was accused of bribing his way into the judiciary by one Kelinu Pace Azzopardi, after the latter had been imprisoned and fined £8 (€9) by the magistrate.

On May 31 and June 10, 1929, Mr Pace Azzopardi wrote to then Police Commissioner Salvatore Galea claiming Magistrate Grech had offered various people money to nominate him to the Bench, among them £200 to Justice Minister Carlo Mallia and £50 to MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.

However, in a letter dated June 11, 1929, Mr Pace Azzopardi was informed that action could not be taken against Magistrate Grech because four years had elapsed from the alleged crime was committed.