Attracting lawyers to Bench

Last week this newspaper carried a photo and a report concerning the discovery of “a bullet in Attard close to the private residence of a Judge”; the police were investigating the matter following a report lodged by a neighbour.

They told me they were taking care of me as they had received a phone call from someone threatening to shoot two bullets at my back

Such an occurrence is indeed serious and worrying. I asked what hall was Mr Justice Robert Mangion presiding over and was informed that he is dealing with family cases.

This fact brought to my mind some sad memories. When I was called to the Bench in 1988, I took over the 1,360 family cases which were being dealt with by my predecessor. I may add that this decision was taken with my approval; in those days the work to be undertaken by a new judge was agreed to during a full meeting of all the judges. That system somehow worked.

Only later did I realise how naïve I was in accepting such a task; I continued to hear, on my own, all family-related cases for the next four years. There was not one which was not sent before me.

The incident involving Mr Justice Mangion however made me recall the many occasions when the army or police bomb disposal units knocked at my door to ask me to inspect my side garden because they were investigating a report that someone was threatening to place a bomb in my premises. I remember one of these came through the late Bishop of Gozo Mgr Nikol Cauchi and Dr Joe Micallef Stafrace. Fortunately all proved to be false alarms.

I once gave a lecture at the Emigrants Commission Centre in Valletta and on walking in, I noticed two police inspectors. I greeted them and went on with my talk. On leaving, I noticed that they were still there and looking in my direction. I ventured to ask them how they happened to be there – they told me they were taking care of me as they had received a phone call from someone threatening to shoot two bullets at my back.

My wife can vouch for the phone calls received informing her that they knew which school our then young daughter attended. These experiences were not pleasant at all but somehow I survived and am still around.

The work undertaken by judges is not easy; recent unfortunate and sad events tend to underestimate our challenging lives. However, those involved in family cases face the most arduous task. The parties are emotionally involved and cannot accept any negative provision decided by the court. They can resort to any retaliatory action.

Such a demanding position prompts me to refer to another article which happened to appear in the same issue of Times of Malta (April 22). The article reveals a most innovative and ingenious solution to entice to some government position a candidate who would otherwise be reluctant to accept due to already earning a higher salary.

Recently the Government appointed a special commission to report on the appointment of judges. It is an open secret that one of the main obstacles to persuading successful lawyers to accept to join the Bench is remuneration.

The article in question referred to the appointment of a ‘parastatal’ chief executive officer (not a judge). The public officials handling this appointment came up with an intelligent and transparent way to induce the nominee to accept a relatively “moderate” pay packet of €70,000 per annum; they decided to give him a “one-off bonus” before he starts. It was explained that this “signing-on bonus was included to compensate for receiving an inferior basic salary”. Pity no one dreamt of such a solution when I was nominated.

I sincerely feel that such a solution would indeed be beneficial to attract successful lawyers who might be interested in joining the Bench. Furthermore, it should not be so difficult to establish the ‘signing-on bonus’. The annual income tax return could form a good basis.

Franco Depasquale is a former judge.