Appointing a chief inquiring magistrate to focus exclusively on criminal investigations and inquiries is a serious possibility, Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici said yesterday.
Such a model would represent a radical shift from the present system in which magistrates preside over cases as well as conduct inquiries.
Addressing a news conference outside the law courts in Valletta, Dr Bonnici said the inquiring magistrate would be assisted by a team of magistrates and forensic experts.
The government is determined to start implementing the reform early next year
He said such a post would be based on similar models in France and Italy. The aim is to conduct investigations transparently and efficiently according to European best practices, said Dr Bonnici.
Earlier this year the government appointed a commission chaired by former European Court of Human Rights Judge Giovanni Bonello to present recommendations for a radical overhaul of the judicial system.
The parliamentary secretary said the commission would present its final report by the end of this week, remarking that there was an “unprecedented wave of submissions” during the consultation process.
Asked if he was concerned by the judiciary’s scathing review of most preliminary ideas by the commission, Dr Bonnici said there was “some common ground” but did not give further details.
Members of the judiciary had met regularly with the government, he said, adding that it would not be bound to take all recommendations on board.
“The government is determined to hit the ground running and start implementing the reform early next year and so we voted an additional €1 million for the justice sector,” said Dr Bonnici.
He said the reform aimed to upgrade the court IT system, and announced that as from January, SMS notifications that a civil case has been deferred will be extended to the public.
Another initiative is setting up a team with a magistrate and a police representative to offer improvements to the notification services in all courts.
The parliamentary secretary also spoke about the fight against corruption and the Whistleblower Act, which was enacted last September.
A number of cases of alleged wrongdoing within the civil service have already been reported to the whistleblower officers within various ministries, but the education campaign to raise more awareness is yet to be launched.
Dr Bonnici said members of the judiciary needed better human resources, but on the other hand warned that the Commission for the Administration of Justice must be given more powers to ensure the members behave with integrity.
New code of ethics ‘soon’
The ministerial code of ethics planned since the first weeks of the Labour administration will be out soon, Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici told this newspaper yesterday.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat ordered the review in March after the controversy surrounding his decision to grant a waiver to Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca.
The junior minister was allowed to continue to practise his profession as ophthalmologist in limited cases, in breach of the present code.
Since June both Dr Muscat and Dr Bonnici have repeatedly said that the first draft had been completed and was up for discussion at cabinet level.
Asked yesterday by Times of Malta whether any progress had yet been registered, the parliamentary secretary said that a second draft document had been drawn up and was currently being discussed internally.
“Once this process is ready, the code will be made public in a reasonably short time,” he said.