The government will soon be presenting Cabinet with a bill on the appointment of the judiciary, which was at an advanced stage, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said as he appealed to the Opposition, which earlier said it would be moving a private member’s bill by the end of the week, to be cautious.

Replying to questions following a statement he made in Parliament on the nomination of two magistrates last week, Dr Bonnici said caution should be exercised as a proposal by the Chamber of Advocates today was already substantially different from what Giovanni Bonello had proposed.

Dr Bonnici said that one should thread carefully and not render the judiciary as something lawyers would not want to go in for

If the Opposition wanted, he said, he could show them the bill he had prepared and share opinions. 

Earlier, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had said that the Opposition would, later this week, table a private members bill proposing a radical change in the way the judiciary is appointed.

Dr Busuttil said that the bill would call for the incorporation of proposals made in the Giovanno Bonello Commission.

If the government really agreed with the proposals it should second the bill and move it for debate as soon as possible, Dr Busuttil said.

In his statement, Dr Bonnici insisted that there was no ulterior motives behind the nominations of Ingrid Zammit Young and Caroline Farrugia Frendo and said this was based solely on the lawyers’ capabilities.

He said that this government had followed the same exact procedure followed for generations in the appointment of members of the judiciary.

The system had at time created controversies but it gave the country members of the judiciary who, in their majority, gave an impeccable service.

The Nationalist administration, he pointed out, had appointed a Chief Justice whose brother was the Justice Minister and a magistrate who had served as Parliamentary Secretary.

In spite of the shortcomings, Dr Bonnici said, the system had given the country good members of the judiciary. It could be improved and changed and it would be changed eventually but one should not throw away the people the system had given.

He said he himself had nominated people, some of whom had been controversial and in time these people were showered in praise by their opponents.

Dr Bonnici pointed out that Cabinet could not appoint people to serve as judges or magistrates but could only nominate them and advice the President to appoint them. The appointment only took place when the President gave the oath.

Dr Bonnici said that both Dr Ingrid Zammit Young and Dr Caroline Farrugia Frendo were serious and upright.

Dr Zammit Young was humble and experience and Dr Farrugia Frendo initially worked in a busy office with her father, Speaker Anglu Farrugia and eventually became court attorney, a post she was selected for by members of the judiciary.

However, doubts about their eligibility cropped up following their nomination.

It was doubted whether Dr Farrugia Frendo had served the required seven years. This doubt was unfounded because seven years had passed since she was given the warrant on the day of her nomination and on that of her appointment she would have taken her oath as a lawyer for more than seven years.

He noted that Noel Cuschieri and Jacqueline Padovani Grima had been appointed magistrates after serving exactly seven years. The former was 30, the latter 31.

Dr Bonnici asked whether the attack on Dr Farrugia Frendo because of her father. The Opposition, he said, should be careful not to bully instead of criticise.

Turning to Dr Zammit Young, he said the doubt on her eligibility was because she served on the Employment Commission.

He noted that this did not directly come out of the Constitution but from an article in the Employment Commission. However, as soon as doubt was raised the government immediately referred the case to the Commission for the Administration of Justice to seek advice, which it immediately said it would follow.

Following six hours of deliberations over two days, the Commission decided there was possibility that she was not eligible. It did not speak of certainty but of possibility and the Commission advised and did not condemn the government.

He said that when former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami had sought advice on a nomination. He had told the Commission in wirting he would not be following its advice.

The Opposition, he said, had embarked on a mud throwing and lies campaign.

Dr Busuttil said the minister had clutched at straws in his statement. He would have expected him to humbly shoulder responsibility and admit he had made a mistake. But he did not even say as much. He would also have expected him to withdraw the second nomination and say that with immediate effect he would be appointing members according to Judge Bonello’s recommendations, which had obtained wide consensus.

Dr Busuttil insisted that the minister and the government had breached the Constitution in the case of both nominations and had the Opposition not objected, the government would have gone ahead and its nominees would have already been appointed.

Questions were also n put by government whip Godfrey Farrugia, Labour MPs Anthony Agius Decelis and Joe Farrugia and Nationalist MPs Jason Azzopari, Mario de Marco, Beppe Fenech Adami and Robert Arrigo.

Replying, Edward Zammit Lewis said one should not attack the appointees in a bid to criticise the government as this would be undermining confidence in the courts.

Continuing, Dr Bonnici said he could never accept any accusation in whichever way it was made, directly or indirectly that the government had, in some stage, breached the Constitution. Dr Busuttil knew this was not the case because he was a lawyer. He also knew that when Dr Farrugia Frendo is appointed magistrate the Constitution will not be breached.

He conceded that Dr Busuttil managed to turn public opinion in favour of the thesis he was promoting, that the appointment of Dr Farrugia Frendo was unconstitutional but this was not the case and several lawyers had written about it.

Referring to Dr Busuttil’s claim that the Opposition would be presenting a private member’s bill, Dr Bonnici said that in the PN’s electoral manifesto, written by Dr Busuttil, there was not even one point on the appointment of members of the judiciary.

 

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