Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco has now been relieved of his duties. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Three judges sitting in the Constitutional Court will decide on Monday whether two members of the judiciary watchdog should abstain from hearing an impeachment case.

Last year, Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco asked for Judge Victor Caruana Colombo and lawyer Reuben Balzan not to sit on the Commission for the Administration of Justice when hearing his case, citing conflict of interest.

The judge noted that the first had been appointed to the Commission by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who had moved for his impeachment.

As to Dr Balzan, who is president of the Chamber of Advocates, the judge said the lawyer had political ties with the Leader of the Opposition, Simon Busuttil, who had expressed himself in favour of the impeachment.

The Commission said last week that although Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco was not involved in the illicit sale of Olympic Games tickets, which had been the subject of an investigation by The Sunday Times of London, the case itself and the publicity given to it were a direct result of his defiance of a 2007 Commission directive for him to resign from the Malta Olympic Committee.

No evidence was produced to show that Dr Balzan was prejudiced against Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco

Madam Justice Anna Felice ruled in October that if the court were to uphold the complaint about Judge Caruana Colombo it would mean that no judge sitting in a court could ever be independent in any case involving the government because all members of the judiciary were appointed by the State.

She added that no evidence was produced to show that Dr Balzan was prejudiced against Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco.

The judge appealed the decision and submissions were made yesterday, a day after Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri relieved the judge of all pending cases before him until his impeachment had been decided by Parliament.

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco complained to the First Hall of the Civil Court that the participation of Judge Caruana Colombo and Dr Balzan in Commission meetings about his case amounted to a violation of his fundamental human right to a fair hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal.

Lawyers Philip Sciberras, a retired judge, and his son, Alex, argued before Mr Justice Joseph Micallef, Mr Justice Tonio Mallia and Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri that there was no way their client could have a fair hearing.

Judge Sciberras submitted that the Commission investigated, issued charges and then decided upon the case, acting like a prosecutor, judge and jury all rolled into one. That meant, he added, that “the Commission for the Administration of Justice was the most anti-constitutional body the country had”.