Herrera wary of Chief Justice’s assignment of cases
Matthew Vella Labour MP Josè Herrera has warned that judges and magistrates risk being assigned cases according to their relationship with the government of the day, sounding the alarm bell over the apportionment of the caseload by Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano.
The assignment of casework was amended recently to give the Chief Justice the power to partition caseloads amongst the members of the judiciary. Herrera said this reform reduced the unnecessary interference from the government executive, which could have had “drastic consequences” on the courts’ independence.
But Herrera also said the judiciary might now be veering towards a situation in which certain members of the bench are sidelined from deciding cases that concern the government, or which have sensitive political consequences.
“A scenario can be created where, due to certain exigencies not necessarily legitimate, certain judges are passed over from deciding certain cases concerning government,” Herrera said.
He made explicit reference to the case of Mr Justice Carmelo Farrugia Sacco, who has been accused by the Commission for the Administration of Justice of being in breach of the judiciary’s code of ethics for occupying the post of president of the Malta Olympic Committee.
“Without any reservations, this member of the bench publicly criticised the way he had been assigned judicial work, slamming the way that libel suits were suddenly all assigned to one particular magistrate,” Herrera said.
Cases concerning libel suits have in fact now been passed on to Magistrate Michael Mallia.
“Labour is worried that today the assignment of duties is being taken to the other extreme: whereas before government’s power was limited to assigning courtrooms, today the assignment of duties is becoming more diffused.
“We don’t agree that judges presiding over the Civil Courts are not given Constitutional cases when this forms part of their general competence… if cases are apportioned in this manner, something not contemplated by the Constitution, we could be veering towards an even more dangerous interference,” Herrera said.
The Labour MP said the Opposition wanted this matter to be legally reviewed in a bid to have more transparency over the apportionment of judges’ duties and their independence.
Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco has defended himself against the claim that his involvement with the Malta Olympic Committee breaches the judiciary’s code of ethics, quoting a judgment that says that, if a judge feels that his conscience is clear, he does not need to feel uncomfortable or threatened about his independence.
The judge last year received a letter from the commission informing him that, as long as he kept his post, he was in breach of the code of ethics for the judiciary. Magistrate Antonio Mizzi, the president of the Malta Basketball Association, received a similar letter.
The code states that members of the judiciary “cannot hold any position, even if temporary, voluntary or honorary, and neither can they carry out any activity which, in the view of the Commission... may compromise their position, duties or functions.”
Farrugia Sacco has stated in the past that he believes the Commission’s stand is related to statements made by former education minister and Speaker of the House Louis Galea back in 2005 over the MOC’s criticism of sporting legislation, and issues related to the MOC’s autonomy and allocation of funding to sporting associations.
Back then, Galea had pointed out “the conflict for a Judge or Magistrate who, wearing the cap of MOC president or media director, takes a position against an act of parliament in public circumstances outside the judicial process” – referring to Farrugia Sacco and Mizzi (Mizzi was both an MOC director and MBA president).
Galea had said the Chief Justice had already asked the two members of the judiciary to conform to the code of ethics, which prohibits the judiciary from “behaviour that endangers their impartiality or independence”.
“I think it is related to that,” Farrugia Sacco told MaltaToday.
Government then decided to formally exclude the judge and magistrate from all official functions with immediate effect. The decision came into force on 13 December, when Farrugia Sacco and Mizzi were omitted from the official list of invitees to all functions commemorating Republic Day.
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