Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri yesterday called for more transparency in the way members of the judiciary are appointed by the government and better planning to replace those due to retire.

While the appointments should continue to be made by the government, they should be scrutinised by the independent Commission for the Administration of Justice, he said yesterday at the opening of the Forensic Year.

“I do not think it is a bad thing that members of the judiciary are chosen by the executive but believe that we should move towards more transparency,” he said.

He said he hoped this would not lengthen the entire process, which should start two years before a member of the judiciary was due to retire. He criticised the time it took to replace retired judges and magistrates, saying this created “legal and logistical problems”.

His comments came right after Chamber of Advocates president George Hyzler appealed to the government not to be involved anymore in the appointments.

“The executive must relinquish its unfettered right to appoint members of the judiciary. Advanced democracies have systems with various checks and balances and without the complete withdrawal of the executive, but we should aim for the separation of its legislative and justice powers,” Dr Hyzler said.

On retired judges and magistrates, Dr Hyzler suggested that they be allowed to address the backlog of cases.

“It is shameful that these retired members, whose contribution is still valid, no longer serve the public,” he said.

In his speech, Chief Justice Camilleri made a plea for more judges to be appointed in order to address the ever-increasing number of cases.

He said he would like to see one more judge presiding over the Family Court and the present complement of 22 judges, including one serving abroad, increased to 25. “I am pleased to note that pending cases before civil and criminal courts are on the decrease due to the faster determination of cases. The problem remains that of the backlog of cases,” he said.

Meanwhile, during Mass celebrated for the occasion, Archbishop Charles Scicluna called for anti-constitutional laws to be discarded.

This was a clear reference to the proposed changes to the Criminal Code decriminalising the vilification of religion.