Former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello will head a justice reform commission that is expected to make recommendations for sweeping reforms of the system within three months.
There is a lot of work that has to be done
The Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, Owen Bonnici, said the commission would be conducting a “holistic review” and make recommendations on shortening the duration of court cases, reforming the way members of the judiciary were appointed and also the operations of the Commission for the Administration of Justice, which is widely seen as being toothless.
The justice reform commission will also be responsible for drawing up a plan for the implementation of the Reparative Justice Act, which includes the parole system, and will look into the Family Court, the Gozo court and the use of IT in court.
Also sitting on the commission will be the dean at the Faculty of Law at the University of Malta, Kevin Aquilina; retired judge Philip Sciberras, who had also served as a Labour MP between 1979 and 1987; and Ramona Frendo, a lawyer and partner at Frendo Montebello Advocates, who featured on the Labour Party’s billboards during the electoral campaign.
The announcement was made at a press conference in Castille yesterday, in which Dr Bonnici also revealed the pay package of former Nationalist MP Franco Debono, who has been appointed Commissioner of Laws.
Review sittings ‘to be in public’
The appointment of Dr Debono, who in the last legislature played a controversial role in undermining the Nationalist Administration, was immediately controversial, with the PN describing it as “divisive and insulting” to the Opposition.
On the judicial review, Dr Bonnici said the matter was to be treated with “utmost urgency”, arguing there was “no option” but change.
He referred to the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto, which promised the reform and on which the Government was “given the mandate” at the polls, he said.
“We are determined to start implementing the reform by the end of the year.”
The commission will be expected to submit its review within three months, followed by a three-month public consultation.
A final review document will be drawn up and the implementation of the recommendations would start by the end of the year.
Dr Bonello will be paid €2,500 a month as chairman and the commission members will receive €1,500 a month.
“This is an ultra-full-time job because there is a lot of work that has to be done,” Dr Bonnici said.
Prof. Aquilina said yesterday he had informed the Government he would be renouncing to the honorarium “as I consider it my duty as a citizen to servethe country in the capacity of commission member and secretary”.
He noted that, in his capacity of dean of the Faculty of Laws, he had already served the House of Representatives’ Select Committee for the Recodification and Consolidation of Laws without asking for or receiving any honorarium.
The commission’s sittings would, as far as possible, be held in public, he said, with wide-ranging consultation with people in the sector including the judiciary, the Chief Justice, the Chamber of Advocates, legal procurators and all other stakeholders.