The Chief Justice and the President of the Chamber of Advocates this morning both called for an increase in the number of judges and magistrates.

Speaking at the opening of the Forensic Year, Dr Reuben Balzan, president of the Chamber, said the number of judges as a proportion to population size was practically half what it was in other European countries.

The Chief Justice, Silvio Camilleri, said he was sceptical that a level of efficiency comparable to other European countries would be reached without a substantial increase in the number of judges. .

He noted that although the Justice Reform Commission was proposing an increase in the number of judges, this appeared to be well below the number needed to reach the proportion achieved in other countries.

He also noted that four judges would retire in the coming two years, and he insisted that their vacancies should be be filled as quickly as possible.

It was true, he said, that the filling of such vacancies was not easy and it was not always the government's fault that there were delays, particularly as people invited to join the Bench  preferred to continue to work in private practice because they viewed conditions as being better This was a reality which needed to be addressed, in the public interest, even if it led to measures which were not popular, more so if there were plans to introduce measures which would further restrict the freedom and privacy of the members of the judiciary, making the position less attractive.

In his address, the Chief Justice regretted that many people tended to generalise and criticise the judiciary as a whole for the shortcomings of individuals.

In what was an apparent reference to the case surrounding late Judge Ray Pace, the Chief Justice said the judiciary had been rocked to the core by what had happened He said public confidence in the law courts had been radically undermined, because the actions of one reflected on the judiciary as a whole. Everyone, and every sentence, ended up under suspicion.

No greater harm could have been made. The members of the judiciary were sorrowful and embarrassed by what had happened.

Those, the Chief Justice said, had been tough times for him as he sought to restore confidence in the bench, and he was grateful for the comfort he found from the Archbishop during the exchange of New Year greetings. He was also grateful for the support from his family and colleagues.

The people had a right to expect justice which was impartial and not contaminated.

The judiciary as a whole needed to win back what it, as a college, had lost,  so that the people could be secure in the knowledge that the judiciary was at its service.

The Chief Justice renewed his criticism over the way the Law Reform Commission was operating. He said he would have expected at least an element of courtesy from the commission, rather than having the judiciary learn about its reports from the media.

Furthermore, the composition of the commission lacked the presence of anybody who had worked in the penal sector and this was reflected in its shortcomings and in weak recommendations made for this sector. Certain mistakes could have been avoided with proper time for research, discussion and evaluation.

However, all in all, this exercise was a positive one. The studies made by the commission on all aspects of the administration of justice were broad and detailed. Many useful recommendations had been made and the Bench agreed with many of them.

The judiciary, however, disagreed with recommendations which would impinge on its independence. This was a sector which was not negotiable.

Indeed, the commission had been pressured to complete its reports within a short time  This led to a number of inaccuracies, legal dispositions which were ignored and the absence of updating with current practices.

This led one to wonder about the wisdom of one of the recommendations - that sentences be handed down within a short, pre-determined time.

Chief Justice Camilleri said an important element in the administration of justice was the quality and quantity of resources available to it.

He regretted that there were frequent resignations of judicial assistants, and vacancies took months to be filled.

The law courts were also suffering an acute problem of shortage of space and the building of new chambers for judges would still not be enough.

Read the speech in full by clicking the pdf below.