PM does not commit to stop appointing members of judiciary until system review

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat does not say that he will stop appointing members of the judiciary until a planned system review takes place.

Recently, the NGO Repubblika has filed a judicial protest in court asking to freeze the appointments of members of the Judiciary here in Malta, until the necessary measures to ensure their independence are introduced.

Asked by sections of the press, Muscat said: “I believe that all appointments, made by different governments, were appointments which, irrespective of who the person was, were able to be objective.” He went on to say that, “we must always respect the will of the courts and since this request, signed by Simon Busuttil was signed, we will wait for the process in court to take its course.”

Recently, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that government will be looking into reforming the methods for appointment and removal of the judiciary, after the Venice commission had looked into the situation and made its comments.

The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission had adopted an opinion which found that the power of the Prime Minister in Malta widely overshadows other government bodies, including the President, Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Judiciary and the Ombudsman.