The Prime Minister yesterday warned two sitting judges – Ray Pace and Lino Farrugia Sacco – that unless they resigned “within the next hours” they would face impeachment motions.

Speaking at the end of a two-day EU summit meeting in Brussels, Lawrence Gonzi said that if the judges did not step down, the Government would present impeachment motions to be discussed by the Commission for the Administration of Justice and then by Parliament.

“If, in a few hours’ time, the two resignations are not on my desk, the Government will officially present impeachment motions for the two to be removed,” a determined Dr Gonzi said.

Sources said yesterday that Mr Justice Pace was expected to resign but there were no developments until the time of going to print.

The commission yesterday held an emergency meeting and recommended that Mr Justice Pace’s pending cases be assigned to other members of the judiciary. Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri accepted the recommendation.

Underlining a clear distinction between the two cases, Dr Gonzi said that through their behaviour both judges had placed the reputation of the judiciary in the balance and it was his duty not to tolerate such situation.

Mr Justice Pace was on Thursday remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to accepting a bribe, trading in influence and money laundering. Two men also pleaded not guilty to trying to bribe the judge to influence a drug trafficker’s sentence. The case is said to revolve around rival drug gangs.

On the other judge, Dr Gonzi said: “Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco was warned a long time ago by the commission that his position as president of the Malta Olympic Committee was incompatible with his role as a judge. This has now been proved by the International Olympic Committee and he must do the honourable thing and resign.”

The Times is informed that the commission intends to take a position on Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco at its next meeting after the controversy was discussed last Monday.

The IOC’s ethics body rapped Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and Joe Cassar –president and general secretary of the MOC – for engaging in a conversation with undercover journalists posing as ticket agents looking to circumvent the official sales mechanism for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

The journalists, from The Sunday Times of London, had secretly filmed a conversation with Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and Mr Cassar.

The sources said that following Justice Minister Chris Said’s request to investigate misconduct allegations made by The Sunday Times of London implicating Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco in his capacity as MOC president, the commission immediately started looking into the matter and had even invited the judge to present his defence.

“Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco appeared in front of the commission a few weeks ago and a report has been concluded on the case for a final decision by the commission,” the sources said.

“However, although the issue was discussed at length last Monday, no conclusion has been reached and a final decision is now expected to be made during the next meeting of the commission,” the sources added.

During last Monday’s meeting, President George Abela once again withdrew when the case was discussed due to a conflict of interest as he had acted as defence lawyer for Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco in the past before the same judiciary watchdog.

According to the Constitution, a judge can only be removed from the Bench if two-thirds of the House of Representatives approve an impeachment motion.

On his part, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco rubbished calls for his resignation and commented that the Prime Minister “was trying to be funny” when he first called for his resignation last week.

In 2008, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco was publicly reprimanded by the commission and asked to step down as MOC president as he was breaching the judiciary’s code of ethics.

Impeachment

The filing of parliamentary motions does not mean the judges will be removed from office any time soon.

Parliament will only get to debate and vote on the impeachment motions after the cases are investigated by the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

Impeachment is regulated by the Constitution and the Commission for the Administration of Justice Act.

According to the law, where notice is given in Parliament of an impeachment motion, the Speaker shall, “without allowing any publicity, keep the motion pending” and refer it for investigation to the commission. The commission will investigate the case behind closed doors.

The commission will then present its report to the Speaker. If the commission finds “at face value” that the misbehaviour was proven, then Parliament will proceed with its actions. If the commission finds no misbehaviour, parliamentary proceedings will have to stop.

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