Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri said today that his main aim in his new post was to improve efficiency at the law courts.

Dr Camilleri expressed his intention minutes after he was sworn in by President George Abela at the Palace in Valletta.

He said that before taking any decisions, however, he would listen to the views of his colleagues so that this could be a collective effort to improve the situation.

The new Chief Justice was sworn in in the presence of the Prime Minister, Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici and new Attorney General Peter Grech, who was given his letter of appointment by Dr Mifsud Bonnici an hour earlier.

Also present was former Chief Justice Vincent de Gaetano, who is to become a judge of the European Court of Human Rights.

President Abela underscored the duty of judges to serve justice and to do without undue delay, and congratulated the Chief Justice on his appointment and on his previous service as Attorney General.