‘Experience and wisdom essential for the judiciary’

Experience and wisdom should be a prerequisite for members of the judiciary, as this could help them in being able to tell whether an accused was telling the truth or not, Nationalist MP Franco Debono advocated yesterday.

Resuming a speech he started on Wednesday, on his motion for reforms in the judiciary sector, Dr Debono said the retirement age of members of the judiciary should be increased to 68.

As things currently stand the appointment of members of the judiciary depended solely on the minister, a practice prevalent in many EU countries 20 years ago.

The judiciary’s working conditions must also improve. Dr Debono said this should have been discussed before the Justice and Home Affairs portfolios were split.

A review was needed of how cases were assigned. Specialisation was increasingly vital and judges and magistrates should be assigned to the areas they were most familiar with. That was not always the case in the past few years, although matters appeared to be changing.

There needed to be a revision of the impeachment procedure and he believed that this should no longer be presided by the President.

The composition and power of the commission also needed to be revised.

Turning to the family court, Dr Debono said there was the need of an analysis of the viability of the system. He believed that mediation should be in the hands of the judge who had years of experience and wisdom.

On reparatory justice, the Nationalist back-bencher said that it was unacceptable that, although the law was now in action, the necessary structures were still not in place and people eligible for parole could not benefit from it.

He criticised the overcrowding in Mount Carmel Hospital’s forensic unit and the fact that an acting director had been in charge of the prison for three years.

The classification of prisoners needed to be better organised.

Dr Debono also called for a revision of the drug legislation and the setting up of a drug court. The schedule of restricted medicines should be updated every six months to reflect international realities. He said it did not make sense that persons caught cultivating a small cannabis plant were considered as traffickers and could face a minimum of six months’ imprisonment.

The debate was suspended at 9 p.m. with Dr Debono in possession.