Chief Justice sworn in as new Attorney General takes over

A fresh pledge to improve the efficiency at the law courts was made yesterday by former Attorney General Silvio Camilleri as he was sworn in as Chief Justice.

However, he said he would not be making any decisions before he listened to the views of his colleagues because any changes had to be a collective effort to improve the situation.

He succeeds Vincent De Gaetano who now moves to Strasbourg to sit as judge on the European Court of Human Rights.

President George Abela, who presided over the swearing-in ceremony, highlighted the duty of judges to serve justice without undue delay.

The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, the outgoing Chief Justice and the new Attorney General, Peter Grech, who also took his oath of office.

Dr Grech promised to anticipate future challenges and reduce “crisis by management” in his office.

While he wanted to match up to all the previous men who were given the honour to be the state’s legal adviser and chief prosecutor, Dr Grech said it was not enough to stop there. Rather, he had to go beyond that because the law was constantly changing and Malta had to adapt to international legislation.

Dr Grech said he was confident in his abilities but aware of the challenges he would have to face because his office had the right mix of enthusiasm, specialisation and experience.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici thanked him for accepting the important post and augured that he would work autonomously without any interference from the government.

The minister said he had known Dr Grech for a long time and they often had to challenge each other in court. Dr Grech had spent his career in the office of the Attorney General and was deputy Attorney General since 2005.