The government has not received any information about the proceedings under way over its complaint against Magistrate Carol Peralta, two months after it asked the Commission for the Administration of Justice to treat the case with “urgency”.

Magistrate Peralta came under heavy criticism after he organised a Christmas party in his courtroom on December 19, then ordered the arrest of a Times of Malta reporter who tried to cover the story.

However, it seems little progress has been made so far.

Asked about the matter, Justice Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici was yesterday reluctant to provide many details.

“The Government is informed that the Commission for the Administration of Justice took cognisance of the complaint filed,” he said.

“Government is bound by law not to comment or provide information as to the proceedings,” he said, when asked whether the Government would proceed to file a formal impeachment motion.

In the past, whenever the government wanted the commission to take action against a member of the judiciary, an impeachment motion has been presented in Parliament.

Government is bound by law not to comment or provide information as to the proceedings

This time the government filed a formal complaint with the commission, as any other person can do, asking it to investigate the magistrate’s behaviour.

In this case, the commission only has the power to “draw the attention” of the magistrate on “any conduct which could affect the trust conferred by their appointment or to any failure on his part to abide by any code or codes of ethics relating to him”.

Since the commission’s proceedings are held behind closed doors, its conclusions may be kept secret even in a case where a member of the judiciary receives a reprimand.

Last December, immediately after the Christmas party held in Magistrate Peralta’s chamber, both the Labour and Nationalist parties condemned his actions, with the Opposition clearly stating that the magistrate should be removed by an impeachment motion.

The government said it was taking this case very seriously, although it did not present an impeachment motion.

Dr Bonnici had said he did not want to prejudice the case, preferring instead to have the commission’s conclusions in hand before filing for impeachment.

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