Justice wears a blindfold in order not to be influenced by those that stand before it. But that does not mean it should not look beyond its nose. In other words, justice must first of all be done but, just as importantly, it must be seen to be done. After all, it is said that "The judge who gives the right judgment while appearing not to do so may be thrice blessed in heaven, but on earth he is no use at all".

Three recent instances must have raised a lot of questions among society, questions that must be answered if the trust and respect the Judiciary deserves is to be preserved and, indeed, strengthened.

The first was the suspended jail terms given to a number of people who pleaded guilty in the cases related to the scam at the VAT Department. The sentence by the Magistrates' Court was eventually confirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeal. Then came the unfortunate case of a former Chief Justice who was found guilty, among other things, of corruption and was jailed for two years and nine months. The third was the decision, again by the Magistrates' Court, to hand down a suspended jail term to a motorist held responsible for the death of two teenage girls.

The rule of law demands that people accused of whatever wrongdoing are duly processed and then judged by the courts. They remain innocent until proven otherwise.

The first task of a court of law is to determine whether an accused is guilty or not of the charges s/he is being charged with.

Then, that same court proceeds to pronounce judgment. In the case of a trial by jury, the accused is, of course, judged by one's own peers but punishment is meted out by a judge, always in terms of law.

The primary duty of a judge is to uphold the rule of law. Sir Igor Judge, president of the Queen's Bench Division of England and Wales, goes further: "The rule of law is bigger than all of us, lawyers, judges, administrators, ministers, governments. The system of justice in every country belongs to the community at large. It is not the private property of judges and lawyers, or ministers and governments. Judges are servants of the community." Any comments on statements made by the Maltese courts recently about blogs and online comments would be superfluous.

Society, or the community at large, to quote Sir Igor, look upon the courts as their ultimate shield against all forms of abuse of their rights, evidently within the remits of the law. Thus, society rightly expects the courts to explain why and how they would have arrived to certain conclusions, including terms of punishment.

See what Sir Igor said when he spoke in Malta almost three years ago: "In terms of public confidence... perception is a critical factor..."

In the three cases mentioned earlier, the general perception is that, once there was guilt, punishment should have been tougher given what was at stake. It does not seem that the explanations given by the courts have gone down well, either.

Yet, the rule of law must continue to prevail and the courts shall remain society's best and most effective shield. It is precisely for these reasons that the system must continue to be fine-tuned, whether that means changes to the law or ensuring the courts communicate better with the public, an idea that has already been mooted.