Commission: 'Every judge should recognise that his first loyalty is towards the Judiciary'
The Commission for the Administration of Justice said in a statement today that every judge should recognise that his first loyalty is towards the Judiciary he forms part of and the confidence which it should enjoy from the community is serves.
The Commission has been in the spotlight after the Prime Minister on Saturday presented motions for the impeachment of judges Ray Pace and Lino Farrugia Sacco. Judge Pace has since resigned and the motion against him has been dropped.
In a statement, the Commission said its investigations are held behind closed doors and it cannot comment about them.
It said it could investigate a member of the judiciary to draw his/her attention on any matter, in any court, which may not be conducive to an efficient and proper functioning of the court.
It also carries out an investigation after an impeachment motion is presented to the Speaker of the House.
In the case of the former, when a shortcoming is found, the only action the Commission may take is to draw the attention of the member of the judiciary involved that his/her action are in violation of the Code of Ethics and may undermine confidence in the Office.
In the past, the Commission investigated Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco and drew his attention as explained.
In the case of investigations into an impeachment motion, should the commission find prima facie misbaviour by a member of the judiciary, the impeachment motion is referred to the House of Representatives for further action.
Decisions on the removal or otherwise of a judge can only be taken by the House of Representatives.
The Commission said it acts in a collective manner and all its members have to be involved in the discussion, meaning that cases cannot be tackled with the speed which the commission itself may wish.
The Commission said that expressions of confidence in a judge for extra-judicial activities, made by organisations which are not involved in the judiciary, do not conditions the commission.
"Every judge should recognise that his first loyalty is towards the Judiciary he forms part of and the confidence which it should enjoy from the community is serves.
(The Malta Olympic Committee last week expressed confidence in its president, Judge Farrugia Sacco)
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Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 18th 2012, 06:36
If the first loyalty of a judge is towards the judiciary and if the observance of that loyalty is kept under scrutiny by fellow judges sitting in a committee operating in the utmost secrecy and accountable to nobody else, then that is the underlying reason why so many judges fall short of the standards expected from them with such a high degree of impunity.
Jo Meli
Dec 18th 2012, 08:22
Fully AGREE with you Francis !
C Muscat
Dec 18th 2012, 08:46
X hemm hazin li kulhadd jaghti ftit mill hin tieghu per ezempju ghal li sport!
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 18th 2012, 09:50
@ C Muscat
Il-hazin mhux li mhallef jaghti ftit mill-hin tieghu ghal l-isport. Il-hazin hu li xi hadd jilbes zewgt ikpiepel f'daqqa ta' tmexxija fil-qrati u f'kumitat nazzjonali tal-isport meta jistghu jinqalghu konflitti ta' interessi. Dan kien previst snin ilu u li fil-fatt issa gara b'effetti koroh fuq Malta mad-dinja tal-isport Olimpiku u fuq il-gudikatura lokali.
A pace
Dec 17th 2012, 20:58
And I always thought a judge's first loyalty was to justice! how naive of me.
Chris Gatt
Dec 17th 2012, 18:02
"The Commission said it acts in a collective manner and all its members have to be involved in the discussion, meaning that cases cannot be tackled with the speed which the commission itself may wish."
The first part of the sentence does not in any way co-relate to the second. it merely implies that the commission is either not structured properly or does not see the urgency of the matter
Chris Gatt
Dec 17th 2012, 17:48
"In a statement, the Commission said its investigations are held behind closed doors and it cannot comment about them"
Question: why? What happened to the principle of examination in open court. How can one speak of confidence in the judiciary when the system that reviews the judiciary is opaque?
Alfred Falzon
Dec 17th 2012, 17:45
When the members of the judiciary take their oath of office what do they say?
Edward Zammit
Dec 17th 2012, 17:20
" cases cannot be tackled with the speed which the commission itself may wish" - Justice delayed is justice denied. This applies even to Judiciary under a cloud of irregularity. This statement by the Commission could imply that they can take as long as they like to express themselves on the issue. No wonder court cases take decades to be concluded.
Joe Grech
Dec 17th 2012, 16:16
All this shows that urgent reforms in this issue need to be undertaken. As things stand the interests of the all-important Citizens are not being taken too seriously!
P Sciberras
Dec 17th 2012, 16:14
Now,that The Commission for the Administration Of Justice have commented about the present confidence in our courts,we hope now that we look for a better future to renew our confidence in our courts. But we all know at the moment,that there is another situation in our courts, that must be addressed :The number of cases being thrown out because of(silly)technical mistakes.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 17th 2012, 15:29
If such an august body as the Committee for the Administration of Justice declares openly that the first loyalty of a judge is towards the other members of the judicature - not to the entire nation and not to the oath of office - it is not to be wondered that judges repeatedly find themselves under suspicion or actual criminal conviction behaving as some officially condoned Mafia.
Henry S Pace
Dec 17th 2012, 15:13
Proverbs 17:26
Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.
Wisdom knows right and wrong. Here are two political errors of civil government that should be known by men of understanding. Though the world corrupts right and wrong, it is your duty and privilege to know the difference and never compromise true justice.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 17th 2012, 15:09
I would have thought that a judge's first loyalty would be to the nation by performing his duty honourably and conscientiously, not in a suspicious or blatanlty corrupt way, so as not to bring disrepute to the whole judicature. I am shocked that the Committee for the Administration of Justice expresses itself differently. No wonder that our justice is being administered so atrociously!
Carmel Camilleri
Dec 17th 2012, 15:00
Why all this dilly dallying? Is our Commission finding it hard to condemn a fellow judge.? By their procrastination they are making us loose confidence in them too?
Henry S Pace
Dec 17th 2012, 14:46
' 'Every judge should recognise that his first loyalty is towards the Judiciary'
ab abusu ad usum non valet consequentia
Consequences of abuse do not aply to general use
J Degabriele
Dec 17th 2012, 14:12
I'd say that every judge (and every man/woman's) loyalty should be to keeping one's name clean and free of any possible doubts about one's integrity. BUT especially so for judges who are supposed to sit in judgement on their fellow human beings!! How can they possibly not feel dirty and disgraced in their own eyes?!
Manuel Briffa
Dec 17th 2012, 13:42
Notice they say 'his first loyalty', not 'his loyalty' or 'his only loyalty'. Surely, that paves the way for many others to follow.
Lawrence Fenech
Dec 17th 2012, 13:23
How very true.
Peter Murray
Dec 17th 2012, 13:10
I would argue that the first loyalty of any judge is primarily to uphold his oath of office closely followed by his loyalty to the people.In any event,lately the judiciary has made a mockery of such a noble aim and objective as loyalty!
twanny borg
Dec 17th 2012, 12:43
fl-opinjoni tieghi l-pl rabat lilu nnifsu li jimxi skont il-kummissjoni. jekk il-kummissjoni qalet li ma ghandux ikun fil-kumitat olimpiku ghandha titlob li dan jirrezenja ghall-anqas minn dan il-kumitat. hekk se jimxi l-pl? jekk jirrezenja mill-kumitat olimpiku ma narax ghax ghandu jirrezenja minn inhallef darba ma kisirx il-ligi imma xi etika olimpika. ghall-anqas hekk intqal.
A.Felix Busuttil
Dec 17th 2012, 13:23
inti hati sa kemm tinstab. Jidher li l-kumissjoni m'ghandix prova ta dan
m. borg (slm)
Dec 17th 2012, 13:40
Le twanny il-PL intrabat x'tghid il-Kummissjoni issa fuq l-impeachment li pprezenta gonzi issa.
Sa fejn naf jien gonzi qomos taparsi mistghageb dwar Farrugia Sacco fuq il-biljetti ta' l-olimpjadi biex spicca iressaq mozzjoni fuq xi haga li saret 4 snin ilu.
Kellu 4 snin biex irressaq mozzjoni ghala issa? Mhux minhabba l-politika
R. Saliba
Dec 17th 2012, 13:55
m.borg, xi haga li saret 4 snin ilu? Jew xi haga li ila ghaddejja 4 snin u ikkulminat fl-ahhar gimghat wara ir rapport tal IOC?
m. borg (slm)
Dec 17th 2012, 17:41
Sur Saliba sahhat l-argument tieghu, jekk ilu sejjer 4 snin u gonzi ma ghamel xejn hlief issa fuq l-ghatba ta' elezzjoni xi jgghallek tahseb?
Grazzi .
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 18th 2012, 08:36
@ M borg (slm)
L-argument falz tieghek ma jista' jqawwieh hadd. Mhux dejjem possibli li xi azzjoni korrettiva tittiehed immedjatament u jekk dan ma jsirx allura ma tittiehed qatt. Din tittiehed fil-hin opportun u dak il-hin opportun ma tiddeterminahx int imma min hu responsabbli.
Henry Moran
Dec 17th 2012, 12:40
So just because someone questions someone's integrety, that person has to be removed because his integrety is now in the limelight.
The problem is POLITICS. Why is it that to remove a magistrate/judge from his office you need two thirds of parliament, but to put him there the decision is only taken by the minister?
Michael Seychell
Dec 17th 2012, 17:54
Mr Moran I agree totally with you - in fact there was a Judge who did not attend court for 7 years and he continued to be paid his full salary, claiming that he had a Conscience problem. When the P.N. government tried to impeach the Judge, the Labour Party voted against the motion and therefore the impeachment motion did not obtain the two thirds majority.
Michael Seychell Tal-Pieta
B. Storace
Dec 17th 2012, 12:05
It is now no longer the case whether Judge Farrugia Sacco is guilty or not; that is now irrelevant. The issue is the fact that he has drawn attention to himself with questions being asked as to his integrity. This takes away the trust that we the community should enjoy and not question.
R. Saliba
Dec 17th 2012, 12:34
well said.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Dec 17th 2012, 13:04
Yesterday Anglu Farrugia drew attention to a particular mgistrate, questioning whether her judgment was infouenced by politics. Should she therefore now resign because of the attention brought on her by AF?
Mr C Galea
Dec 17th 2012, 13:18
re Mr Andrew Camilleri
the answer is yes if what you say is true.
m. borg (slm)
Dec 17th 2012, 11:59
Every judge should recognise that his first loyalty is towards the Judiciary he forms part of and the confidence which it should enjoy from the community is serves."
100% right but one may ask, heading a sporting entity how does this undermine this loyalty?
A Vella
Dec 17th 2012, 12:49
You have to try to think harder, come on try.
m. borg (slm)
Dec 17th 2012, 13:36
No Einstein tell me how .
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 17th 2012, 15:58
A judge's first loyalty is to the nation as a whole and to his oath of office. When he does that, then "loyalty to the judiciary" follows automatically. Both you, and the whole Committee, should be able to understand that instinctively.
Jay Oatmon
Dec 17th 2012, 11:55
This plainly wrong - it should be:
Every judge should recognise that his first loyalty is towards the public and honest justice - not his buddies in the judges club!!!
Please choose the reason of your report below: