The Committee for the Codification of Laws agreed today that a process should start for a reform of the Commission for the Administration of Justice so that it could be more effective in holding judges and magistrates to account.
The committee, chaired by Franco Debono (who had proposed the committee's setting up), was discussing the compilation of an Administrative Code, which will consist of close to 1000 sections and is being piloted by Prof Kevin Aquilina, Dean of the Faculty of Laws. The Code, the first of its kind in Malta, is close to completion.
The committee agreed that while the independence of the judiciary should not be touched, there needed to be ways to hold judges to account, when, for instances, the number of pending cases before them grew without justification.
The committee also agreed that there should be further discussion on the manner how judges are appointed.
Labour MP Jose' Herrera said that apart from qualifications, the issue of seniority should not be ignored. Nothing frustrated members of the judiciary than to be passed over - such as for the appointment of Senior Magistrate - for no apparent reason, leading one to suspect...
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