The judge who for six years defied the judiciary watchdog’s directive to step down as chairman of the Malta Olympic Committee has come closer to being impeached after it was found there was prima facie proof of his misbehaviour.
The Commission for the Administration of Justice has recommended that the impeachment process started against Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco in Parliament in 2012 should carry on.
All this undermines the faith and respect of the public towards the judiciary and goes against the code of ethics
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the government was giving its full attention to the case and recalled his pledge, while in Opposition, to follow the recommendations of the commission.
He said he would now ensure that the impeachment process moved on without delay. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil welcomed Dr Muscat’s declaration.
Since the motion for impeachment was presented by a PN-led government, the Opposition is expected to support it. The commission’s report, dated January 6, was made public yesterday by the Speaker of the House, Anġlu Farrugia, as Parliament reconvened after the Christmas recess.
It states that although the judge was not involved in the illicit sale of Olympic tickets, as alleged in a story published by The Sunday Times of London, the investigations and the publicity given to this case were a direct result of his defiance of a directive, issued by the commission in 2007, to resign as president of the Malta Olympic Committee.
‘Publicity stemmed from his defiance’
“All this undermines the faith and respect of the public towards the judiciary and goes against the code of ethics,” the report states.
“For this reason, the commission finds that there is prima facie proof of misbehaviour by Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco.”
The issue of the incompatibility between his position as a judge and his position as head of the MOC goes back to 2004 when the commission first drew his attention to this issue.
After a number of exchanges with the judge and his lawyers, in August 2007 the commission instructed Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco in writing to step down from the sports organisation.
In its report the commission notes that despite this directive, Dr Farrugia Sacco continued to hold on to his MOC position.
It was only last March, following the presentation of the motion of impeachment and nearly six years following the directive to step down, that he decided not to contest again to become MOC president.
According to the Constitution, a judge can only be removed from the Bench following the approval of a motion in Parliament supported by two thirds of MPs.
However, the motion has first to be examined by the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
If it finds prima facie evidence justifying the motion, as in this case, then the motion can take its course in Parliament.
St Gregory in his original state.