Next Chief Justice may not come from the Bench, Justice Minister hints

The next Chief Justice may not come from the Bench, Justice and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici hinted on INDEPTH.

The Malta Independent editor-inchief Rachel Attard asked Bonnici about the process to find a predecessor for incumbent Silvio Camilleri, who will be retiring on 26 April 2018. Bonnici pointed out that the government can also appoint a lawyer who never served as a judge, magistrate or Attorney General.

Bonnici also confirmed that the members of the judiciary had expressed their wish for the minister to choose someone from the Bench. “I will also give weight to what they are telling me,” he assured.

Bonnici said that the new Chief Justice will be appointed by the government in consultation with the Opposition. This system came after an agreement was made with Nationalist Party.

This means that the Chief Justice will not be chosen by the Judicial Appointments Committee, which makes recommendations on the appointment of judges and magistrates.

Bonnici said both the Opposition and government had decided that the committee should not enter into play on the decision.

“The Judicial Appointments Committee is chaired by the Chief Justice. When we drafted the law we saw that the Chief Justice, as chair of this committee, would not be part of the process to find his successor.”

He also spoke about the changes that are expected in the coming months when it comes to the criminal courts. The Minister said that apart from appointing more members of the judiciary, the next impetus will be to give the necessary tools and change the way the criminal court works. Bonnici said he wants to remove the backlog of cases.

“Also when it comes to the prosecution, the Attorney General will have a main role in the compilation of evidence. Our current system is old and absolute and I want to change it even though I know I will find some resistance. This is another proposal from the Bonello report.”

Minister Bonnici was also asked about the rule of law, the Attorney General and V18.

The full programme will be uploaded today on www.independent.com.mt