Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri yesterday said the government had “relegated” the judiciary when it revised the order of precedence followed at national ceremonies.

“Unfortunately, the end of the year left a bitter taste for the judiciary because of the treatment it received when the government, all of a sudden, changed the order of precedence, and the judiciary, as represented by my office, was relegated to a position inferior to that it has always been acknowledged to merit along the years,” he said.

Dr Camilleri was speaking during the annual end-of-year exchange of greetings with President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. He said he was offended by the government’s decision “without the courtesy of the slightest advance notice”, to change the place he normally occupied in front of the War Monument on Remembrance Day.

This  is not appropriate, even if courtesy and correctness in the ways things are done might no longer be fashionable in modern times

“In my view, this is not appropriate, even if courtesy and correctness in the ways things are done might no longer be fashionable in modern times,” he said.

Worse, Dr Camilleri continued, his complaints about the matter to the Principal Permanent Secretary had fallen on deaf ears.

“After more than a month, I am still without a reply. I am not sure whether I can hope that, perhaps, courtesy will prevail at the start of the New Year,” he said.

The Chief Justice said that, over the past year, the judiciary had improved considerably in terms of the duration of proceedings and the number of judgments delivered.

Much still remained to be done “because the problem had festered for tens of years”.

However, progress was being registered, so much so that, this year, as in the previous year, the number of cases concluded was higher than the number of new cases filed, leading to a drop in the number of pending cases.

Making a quick social point, the Chief Justice said that the “craving for swift prosperity and for unlimited wealth” was becoming a source of distortion of the rule of law and social justice. The result of such craving, he added, was theft, fraud or corruption, which went unpunished.

The President thanked the judiciary for its efforts and urged the government to make the most of the country’s “economic success” and invest where it mattered: in social and educational reforms that could really make a difference.

Addressing Cabinet members, she said bold decisions that could improve people’s lives should not be put off any longer.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna congratulated the President on Monday’s “momentous” L-Istrina fundraiser.

He also thanked her for “introducing Malta” to Samuel, a young boy blinded by cancer whose inspirational words, Mgr Scicluna said, touched the hearts of many.

L-Istrina raised a record sum of more than €5.5 million (see page 3) in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation. The money is used to help people like Samuel who need costly medical care.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.