As expected, Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia this evening presented the report related to the decision of the Commission of Administration of Justice on Judge Farrugia Sacco, after an impeachment motion had been presented by the PN when in government in 2012.
The Commission for the Administration of Justice has found prima facie evidence that Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco behaved inappropriately.
The commission’s decision was linked to the judge’s refusal to give up his presidency of the Malta Olympic Committee and not to the undercover investigation into the sale of Olympic tickets, where it was alleged that he offered to sell Winter Olympic tickets allocated to the Malta Olympic Committee for resale.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meanwhile reiterated in parliament this evening that he will follow the Commission’s of Administration of Justice advice on Justice Farrugia Sacco, as he had promised he would do, without delay.
Dr Muscat said that procedures related to Justice Farrugia Sacco are bound by secrecy, and that rightly so, he received a copy of the report of the Commission for the first time today in parliament and had never been given a copy prior to today’s sitting.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said he also got to know about the report’s conclusions today, same as the Prime Minister.
He said that the commission proved what was said when the impeachment motion was presented in December 2012.
He welcomed Dr Muscat’s commitment to see that the case is closed as soon as possible.
PN calls on government to give priority to Farrugia Sacco motion
The Opposition said in a statement issued this evening that it expects the government to place the motion on Justice Farrugia Sacco at the top of parliament’s agenda.
The PN statement, issued shortly after the report of the Commission of the Administration of Justice was presented in parliament by the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia, further read that the impeachment motion was presented by a PN government in December 2012 after it felt that Justice Farrugia Sacco was contributing to the lack of faith of citizens in the justice system after the allegations surfaced tying him to the resale of Winter Olympic tickets, while also breaching the Code of Ethics for having sat on the Malta Olympic Committee while he served the Bench.