The people’s trust in the judiciary and its independence is strong, despite what is carried by newspapers, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici told The Malta Independent.
This newspaper approached the minister for his reaction to comments made by the Dean of the University of Malta’s Faculty of Laws Kevin Aquilina.
Aquilina commented on the most recent set of judicial appointments and a lawsuit that challenged that selection system, saying that Malta is in the “worst constitutional mess” that is has faced since gaining independence.
Victor Axiak, Brigette Sultana and Nadine Lia were sworn in as magistrates last Thursday, while Aaron Bugeja, Francesco Depasquale, and Joanne Vella Cuschieri were promoted to judges.
Asked whether he agreed with the Dean’s assertions, Bonnici said that while Aquilina is entitled to his opinion, he does not share it.
Bonnici cited a Eurobarometer report, released last Saturday, stating that the Maltese public trust in the judiciary shot up to 56% while in the field of company law that trust is over 60%.
“While we have opinions which are carried in the papers, on the ground people believe that the independence of the judiciary is strong – so much so that 56% of the public said that they trust it,” Bonnici said.
However, the government is not going to rest on its laurels, he said; “We already improved the system of appointments in 2016, which everyone including Simon Busuttil and Jason Azzopardi, voted in favour of and we are intent on improving the system further so that we make sure that it is robust and guarantees the values should cherish.”
Asked about the timeframe for the implementation of Venice Commission reforms, Bonnici said that various recommendations made by the commission – around 33% in fact - had been tabled for the first reading already, and that the bill which splits the Attorney General’s roles will be tabled “in the coming days”.
The Attorney General’s office will be split into two, with one part taking care of the prosecutorial side and the other taking care of the civil side.
Bonnici said that this will take up until around June so that there is proper time given for a debate on the subject, and then once it is passed it will open the way for more reforms based on the recommendations of the Commission.
The minister however said that people’s minds can be put at rest by the fact that the government will continue to improve the system.
“We are going to change things not because our system is bad – nobody said that our system is bad or is failing – but because the Venice Commission said that we can improve it and so that is what we are going to do,” he concluded.