The Constitutional Court has declared that Madam Justice Jacqueline Padovani Grima is not to preside over proceedings instituted by the Nationalist Party over an alleged breach of ground rent conditions relative to the Workers Memorial Building.
This was the outcome of a judgment handed down on Friday upholding an application by the GWU after its requested recusal of Madam Justice Padovani Grima had been rejected by the First Hall, Civil Court in April 2017.
The GWU, as respondents in the suit filed by the PN, had claimed that their fundamental right to a fair hearing would be prejudiced if the case were to be presided over by the Judge in question.
The crux of the issue stemmed from the fact that lawyers handling the PN brief worked at Fenech and Fenech, a law firm having family ties with Madam Justice Padovani Grima.
It was pointed out that Kenneth Grima, a senior partner at the firm, was the Judge’s brother, Rowena Grima, also working at the firm, was her sister, while Ann Fenech, a managing partner, was related through marriage.
The first court had concluded that having a sibling who worked for a legal firm representing a party in a case was too "indirect and remote" a reason to cast legitimate doubt on a judge's impartiality, thus throwing out the request for recusal.
However, the Constitutional Court, referring to a pronouncement made in Lawrence Grech vs AG, stated that objective considerations which could impinge upon the notion of impartiality of the Judge, could merit a challenge of said Judge.
For this reason, one needed to consider the nature of the dispute, the relationship between a particular member of the law firm and the Judge, as well as the post occupied by such relative and whether he was to partake of the litigation profits.
In the light of such considerations, the Court observed that in this particular case, the dispute was not a private matter but one that bore political overtones and thus “drew public attention.”
Although there was no degree of relationship between the lawyer and legal procurator actually handling the PN brief against the GWU in court, the same could not be said in respect of Kenneth Grima and Rowena Grima, both siblings of the Judge, as well as Ann Fenech, married to a cousin of the Grima siblings.
In the light of all this, besides the fact that, as senior partner, the Judge’s brother would have “an interest in the case since he had a share in the profits,” the Court concluded that the “GWU’s fear as to the impartiality or otherwise of the Judge was not altogether far-fetched”.
Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi, together with Mr Justices Giannino Caruana Demajo and Noel Cuschieri, presiding over the Constitutional Court, disagreed with the first court that considered such ties as “an indirect and too remote a reason to raise a legitimate doubt on the part of a reasonable observer about such impartiality”.
The Court thus upheld the GWU’s claim, declaring that to deny it would result in a breach of rights and ordered that the case was no longer to be presided over by Madam Justice Padovani Grima.
Lawyers Jason Azzopardi, Edward Debono and Daniel Buttigieg were counsel to the PN. Lawyers John Bonello and Aaron Mifsud Bonnici were counsel for the GWU. Lawyer Victoria Buttigieg appeared for the AG. Lawyer Stefano Filletti was counsel to the Lands Commissioner. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Amadeus Cachia were counsel to Sciacca Grill.