Mr Justice Raymond Pace resigned yesterday, hours after Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi filed motions to impeach him and Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco after an urgent Cabinet meeting.
Dr Pace, who also served as Acting Chief Justice, is facing criminal charges of bribery and trading in influence. It is alleged he agreed to influence a sentence handed down to a drug trafficker to satisfy a rival drug gang.
Meanwhile, in reply to questions from The Sunday Times, Labour called on Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco to relinquish his post as president of the Maltese Olympic Committee in line with a direction he had defied five years ago from the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
With regard to the impeachment motion against the judge, the PL said it would abide by the Commission’s recommendations “once it pronounces itself on this case”.
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and MOC general secretary Joe Cassar were rapped by the International Olympic Committee in an investigation over the sale of Olympic tickets earlier this year.
The investigation started after a probe by undercover reporters of The Sunday Times of London, who filmed a conversation with the two men after posing as ticket agents seeking to circumvent the official ticketing mechanism.
Dr Gonzi – who spent the week upping the ante against the two judges to pressure them to resign – yesterday presented two impeachment motions to Speaker Michael Frendo.
The motions were to be analysed by the Commission for the Administration of Justice, after which they could be presented to Parliament to be debated and voted upon.
Incidents not fair – Gonzi
But President George Abela said he held a meeting with Dr Pace at San Anton Palace yesterday afternoon where the judge presented his resignation. The meeting with the judge, who was denied bail, was authorised by a court decree.
“In his letter, Dr Raymond Pace declared that irrespective of the final outcome of the criminal proceedings against him and any other developments, he recognised that his position as a judge was no longer tenable,” the press statement by the President’s office said.
Dr Pace’s resignation means the impeachment motion against him, which already had the backing of the Opposition, has been dropped.
But the motion faced by Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco will now be considered by the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco has consistently insisted that he did nothing wrong and broke no laws.
But a “profoundly disappointed” Dr Gonzi yesterday said it was of the utmost importance that members of the judiciary maintained conduct of the highest quality.
The Prime Minister pointed out that Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco was in 2007 directed by the Commission to step down as MOC president because holding such a position contravened the code of ethics.
“Recently, his behaviour in this role also led for there to be an investigation and censure by the International Olympic Committee,” Dr Gonzi added.
Dr Gonzi said these incidents weakened people’s faith in the judiciary and were not fair on those members of the judiciary who acted correctly and with integrity.
The Prime Minister also said he was willing to convene Parliament urgently if the Commission recommended impeachment, even if this happened after Parliament was dissolved on January 7.
The Chamber of Advocates yesterday expressed concern regarding the two cases and urged the Commission and Parliament to decide on the motions in the shortest time possible, preferably before January 7.