Disgraced judge Lino Farrugia Sacco insisted in court today that his right to a fair trial was breached when he was not notified of the fresh impeachment motion filed against him in Parliament.

His rights were also breached when the Commission for the Administration of Justice did not allow him to produce witnesses in his defence.

He was testifying before Madam Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland in a Constitutional case he filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court.

The case was filed against Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who moved the motion, the Attorney General, the commission and Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil.

He told the court that the Commission for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) had failed to notify him before it considered the motion and that the second decision by the CAJ confirming its original decision to impeach him without offering him a fair hearing was in breach of the principle of natural justice.

The issue follows a ruling by Speaker of the House Anġlu Farrugia that the original impeachment motion filed by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in 2012 was “dead” as it had been filed during a previous legislature by a person who was no longer an MP and had never made it to Parliament’s agenda.

As a result, Dr Muscat moved a fresh motion and this, according to law, was forwarded to the commission for investigation.

A few days later, the commission wrote back to the Speaker saying its position was the same as that taken on the original motion – that there was prima facie proven misbehaviour by the judge when he stayed on as president of the Malta Olympic Committee.