JJ Cremona, the man who helped draft Malta’s 1964 independence constitution, has died at the age of 102. 

Cremona, who served as chief justice between 1971 and 1981, was one of Malta’s greatest legal minds besides being also an author, historian, and poet – having had his poems read by the likes of Cecil Day-Lewis and Queen Elizabeth II at public events.

President George Vella paid tribute to Creona, calling him "one of its brightest legal minds, and an erudite gentleman", and saying that "Malta is highly indebted to him. Such prominent sons of Malta should not go without appropriate commemoration."

Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that Cremona's "legacy in the legal framework will live on forever."

Cremona passed away on Thursday.

Born on 6 January 1918 in Xaghra, Gozo, Cremona was the Attorney General during talks for Malta’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1964.

He went on to serve as Malta’s chief justice and was the first Maltese judge to serve at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, eventually becoming a vice-president of that court. Cremona also chaired the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

His textbooks on Malta’s constitutional history are required reading for law students to this day.

Among the many honours awarded him was that of Companion of the Order of Merit of the Maltese Republic, Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, Knight Grand Cross of the Italian Order of Merit, and Knight of the Order of Malta.