Madam Justice Miriam Hayman today called for a reform in the salary packages of members of the judiciary, to be followed by changes to their retirement pension.

Speaking in her first sitting after she was promoted from magistrate, Madam Justice Hayman said it is unacceptable that retired judges are expected to live on just €900 a month.

"Where is justice in this pathetic, humiliating, farcical and surreal reality? Why does someone who dedicated his life and sacrificed his family, end up living in this situation, almost ridiculous, when compared to other financial packages received by others? Should retired members of the judiciary look at their retirement as a time of worries and tension instead of a time to relax and reap the benefits of what would have been sowed throughout his working life?" she asked. 

Madam Justice Hayman spoke about the need to beef up the police Drug Squad and expressed regret that Assistant Commissioner Norbert Ciappara was due to leave the force. 

She noted that reforms were badly needed to alter the mandatory jail sentence for drug trafficking by sharing. "I am in no way condoning the acts but should someone who chooses to buy drugs to share with his friends, sometimes without remuneration, face mandatory jail?"

She also questioned whether people facing drug charges should still go to jail despite changing their ways in the years until judgment is pronounced.

The new judge also criticised legal aid lawyers who sometimes failed to appear in court to defend clients. "This attitude needs to change as it does not honour the legal profession," she said. 

In his speech, George Hyzler, the president of the Chamber of Advocates, said the chamber "genuinely believed" that the administration must distance itself from the judiciary, adding that this was healthy for democracy and also served to increase people's "much-needed" trust in the judicial system.