Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco will be appealing a Constitutional Court judgment which held that the judiciary watchdog had not breached his rights when it ruled there was no need for a fresh re-evaluation after a second  impeachment motion against him, identical to the first, was presented against him after the general election.

On Thursday, the court said there was no breach when the Commission for the Administration of Justice ruled that nothing had changed from the first impeachment motion against the judge – presented before the election by then prime minister Lawrence Gonzi – and that it therefore did not need to re-evaluate the matter.

The commission had ruled on both occasions that there was prima facie evidence of misbehaviour by Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco after he defied its calls to resign as president of the Malta Olympic Committee.

The judge, who has been probed by the Commission for the Administration of Justice since 2005, is due to retire in two months’ time. The appeal could take weeks to be concluded and the judge celebrates his 65th birthday in August, when, by law, he will have to retire.

The PN yesterday again called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to proceed with the impeachment motion as it was becoming evident that the government was using tactics to allow him to retire before a decision on his impeachment could be taken.

The PN said this further eroded people’s trust in the justice system.

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