Noel Arrigo still unsure about appeal

Disgraced chief justice Noel Arrigo has not yet decided whether to appeal against his jail sentence after being convicted of bribery.

His lawyer Joe Giglio said a meeting was due to be held with Dr Arrigo on Wednesday and "we will take it from there". Asked whether a preference either way had been suggested, Dr Giglio said he would rather not comment further.

On November 26, Dr Arrigo was jailed for two years and nine months after being convicted of accepting an €11,500 bribe to reduce a jail term of convicted drug trafficker Mario Camilleri, known as l-Imnieħru.

The sentence is over a year below the maximum provided for by the law at the time the crime was committed. If he appeals, the sentence can only be confirmed or reduced, not increased.

All those involved in the corruption case, including former judge Patrick Vella, were jailed. Dr Vella, who admitted to accepting €23,000 in exchange for reducing Mr Camilleri's jail term, was sentenced to two years in March 2007.

Dr Arrigo contested the proceedings tooth and nail from when he was first investigated in July 2002. During the trial, he admitted he lied to the police during interrogation to derail the investigations.

Dr Arrigo's legal team argued his decision to reduce the prison term was not influenced by a "gift", since he received money after rather before the sentence was communicated.

However, the presiding judge, Giannino Caruana Demajo, dismissed the argument, describing Dr Arrigo's initial refusal of the money as a "tactical move".