Paul Borg OlivierPaul Borg Olivier

Former PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier yesterday declared he will not be present for the traditional first sitting of former Labour MP Wenzu Mintoff who was sworn in as a judge on Thursday.

“(Mr Justice) Wenzu Mintoff will not see me on the first day he steps into the courts. I will not turn up to his first pompous sitting presided by the President and the Minister for Justice. I will not participate in this act of hypocrisy. It is a slap in the face of justice,” Dr Borg Olivier wrote on Facebook.

When contacted by The Sunday Times of Malta yesterday Mr Justice Mintoff said he did not wish to comment further on the issue. He reiterated that, as he said during his swearing in ceremony, independence and impartiality would be his benchmark.

But Dr Borg Olivier, a lawyer, told this newspaper that if any of his clients ended up before Mr Justice Mintoff he would either not appear or ask for a different judge.

“I feel very strongly about this… Everyone has a political opinion but here we have someone who goes beyond that and it’s quite unprecedented. I mean, this is the man who during the last election called [Opposition leader] Simon Busuttil wiċċ ta’ baħnan (idiot face) and now he’s a judge,” he said.

He added that even more worrying was the sudden announcement of this appointment, showing that the government knew the name with draw criticism.

The appointment of Dr Mintoff as judge was announced on Wednesday and, the following day, he was sworn in. The appointment drew surprise in legal and political circles, with some questioning his suitability.

Another question raised was whether Dr Mintoff had the necessary experience required to take up the post, with a parallel being drawn with the nomination in 2002 of respected lawyer André Camilleri.

He can be made judge by all prerogatives, but he can never be my judge

Dr Camilleri was turned down by the Commission for the Administration of Justice because he was not deemed to have enough court experience. The government is not obliged to consult the commission before appointing a judge and did not in the case of Dr Mintoff.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat defended the choice, pointing out that in the past people who had served in Cabinet had still been appointed to the Bench, and had served well. Mr Justice Mintoff would be no exception. His integrity was unquestioned, he said.

However, Dr Borg Olivier said that a judge must not only be impartial in his actions but must instil the comfort of impartiality within and outside the courtroom.

“(Mr Justice) Mintoff does not fit this last equation,” he wrote adding that he could never be a symbol of justice. As a Labour activist and former editor of Labour newspaper Kullħadd he carried out “vicious attacks” against the Nationalist Party.

“(Mr Justice) Mintoff can never give me and my clients the comfort of absolute impartiality when appearing before him. His scales of justice have been flipped and his eyes are blackened by partisan partiality and by personal grudges. He can be made judge by all prerogatives, but he can never be my judge,” he said.

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