The country needed to strongly revise its methods for the appointment and removal of judges and magistrates, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this afternoon.

He was speaking during a visit to Saw, a furniture manufacturer at tal-Handaq Industrial Estate.

The Prime Minister said that the country had a constitutional set up that judged the behaviour of judges and magistrates, who were constitutionally independent but this needed to be revised.

Asked about the fact that Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco was still appearing in court in spite of an impeachment motion against him, Dr Gonzi said this was an issue that was being handled by the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

He said he did not want to comment on the matter as he did not want anything he said to be interpreted as putting pressure on the Commission.

Asked whether or not he agreed that MPs should be paid per sitting they attended, Dr Gonzi said this was an issue that had to be discussed. However, there were other more important issues that also had to be discussed.

And although MPs had to be encouraged to attend sittings, one could not ignore other important roles such as parliamentary committees.

He pointed out that he had long been suggesting Prime Minister’s question time every 15 days and a no vote debate on a subject chosen by the opposition.