Like all right thinking lawyers (not the blinkered sods within the profession), I was obviously shocked to hear of the appointment of Wenzu Mintoff to the Bench. It was a bolt from the blue, sprung on us at the eleventh hour from one day to the other in the most secretive manner by a Government which does not even know where transparency and decency begin. It must be a decision imposed on the Cabinet by an increasingly dictatorially prone Prime Minister, who must have taken a few private lessons on the side when in China. I can’t believe it was a decision taken by the Minister of Justice. If it was, then Owen Bonnici, whom I only praised last week and whom I have always held in esteem, has now totally lost my respect. For goodness sake, how can you have a judge who for years has vilified a good half of the Maltese population with the hdura (bile) in his writings and broadcasts. His private lessons were no doubt held with his late uncle.

How can a good part of the population (particularly in political and sensitive cases) be rest assured that the they will be treated without a bias of some sort. Further, Mintoff does not have the required experience and, probably, competence. In my 32 years practicing as a lawyer, and a good many of them as a litigator in the Civil Court, I have never had one, but one, case with Mintoff as an adversary and I am being generous in saying that I, perhaps, saw him in one of the Court halls ten times these 32 years. I think Mintoff’s appointment is an affront to the other many honourable and respectable judges as well as to the Maltese people as a whole. I can say one thing. I will not be attending Mintoff’s inaugural session and I appeal to all serious colleagues to boycott it too. Further, should any rare occasion summon me to a hearing in his hall I will not be there. And please note that I refuse to refer to him as Judge Mintoff and less so Mr. Justice.

But what is a pity (and this where dictatorship comes in) is that the Bonello Commission outlined and proposed a very clear procedure for the appointment of members of the judiciary, which is transparent and serious. Like other countries (and indeed the European Commission, where Commissioners as well are concerned) prospective candidates would be vetted and even grilled. I doubt Mintoff would have passed his exam if this procedure was applied, simply because he has far too much baggage, and my God it’s heavy. What do we expect from now on in the appointment of  judges? Are we to follow the Mintoff trend or implement the proposals of the Justice Reform Commission? The Chamber of Advocates was very clear in its stand in favour of implementing the Bonello Commission reforms. This would have been the perfect opportunity. So why the hurry? Why the secrecy till the eleventh hour? Something stinks. Is it only a case of getting somebody out of the way?

And talking about the dictatorial trend, the Local Council elections postponement is a perfect example. Why postpone democracy till 2019 ? This is in effect what is happening. The Prime Minister’s reasoning in terms of saving money and tempering electoral fatigue does make sense, but this process of transition in order to group elections together should be gradual and not just the imposition of a postponement period of a considerable number of years. Not to mention that this seems to be a ploy to placate some of the Prime Minister’s great friends, the hunting lobby, to whom he sold his soul, like so many other lobby groups – in order to get the massive victory he did – in his apparent bid to cushion the effect of the referendum on the abolition of spring hunting. In fact, the Prime Minister is very transparent in another sense in that one can see through his every devious move. This is clear from the proposed postponement of local elections so close to those that are due to be held. Prime Minister get a life! You cannot fool everyone every time and the hens will finally come home to roost. It may be a long time, but be sure they will.

I have known Mr. Justice Gino Camilleri since 1971, when we were students at the University. Gino was studying law and I was, at the time, reading for a B.A. (prior to entering the law course later). We were also involved in activities outside University and so met regularly. We then parted ways, so to say, when we took up our respective professions. Gino then successively became Magistrate and Judge. My court practice became very limited and unfortunately I did not have the honour of appearing before him often, but whenever I did I was impressed by a profile that was low but firm – he would tolerate no nonsense. He also had a sense of understanding and even compassion – he treated the parties before him in a truly respectable manner – which unfortunately is not always the case. Contact was kept for some time in the water polo camp, where he was President of the Aquatic Sports Association and I was first legal advisor to Neptunes WPSC and subsequently President of the same club. We were both  Honorary Presidents of the Association. Again in his role as a Disciplinary Commissioner in the Association he was always firm, but fair and understanding. May you rest in peace true gentleman.