Civil society group Repubblika stated Monday that now that the general election has passed, it is time for the government and opposition to resume discussions on who should be the country's next Chief Justice.
The NGO also called for the selection of the Chief Justice to fall in the hands of the judiciary, after the selection of the next Chief Justice devolved into a public political quarrel between the two major party leaders, Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Alex Borg.
Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti has continued in his role in spite of reaching retirement age after the two sides of the House failed to come to terms on his successor.
Repubblika said that "the need to appoint a Chief Justice did not end because the election has passed." It added that now that "electoral pressures have passed, we have an opportunity to address this issue with the seriousness it deserves."
Repubblika believes that the public discussion on appointing a new Chief Justice should focus on the selection process, rather than on potential candidates for the constitutional post.
It noted that since the office of the Chief Justice is not a political office, "the person who heads the judiciary should not be selected through public competition between political parties, nor should their appointment become another occasion for partisan polemics."
"The independence and authority of the judiciary are not strengthened when judges are discussed as if they are political candidates," Repubblika stated.
The NGO remarked that with the judiciary being a separate branch from the State, it is "reasonable that the members of the judiciary should have a decisive role in the selection of the person who leads them."
It added that even European institutions have called for the judiciary's role in this selection process to be empowered.
"The aim should not be to reach a political agreement behind the scenes or after a public pantomime, but that the appointment is as free as possible from political interference and enjoys the trust of the judiciary itself," Repubblika issued in its statement.
The civil society group concluded that "there is no reason for this discussion to remain mired in partisan calculations" and that "Before Malta is once again lost in speculation on individual names, we should have a mature discussion about the principles that should govern the appointment of a Chief Justice."
Repubblika ultimately hopes for the appointment process of Malta's Chief Justice to strengthen the judiciary's independence, strengthen public confidence in the courts, and better guarantee the separation of powers.
Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti was scheduled to vacate his post on his 68th birthday, on 4 February 2026. Instead of selecting his successor however, Prime Minister Abela and PN leader Borg were caught at a very publicised impasse.
This boiled over when Judge Wenzu Mintoff accused the Prime Minister of prioritising money and political calculation over judicial independence in a five-page letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, in which he wrote, under oath, that PM Abela did not want to appoint him as the next Chief Justice so as not to please the Nationalist Party, who had listed him as one of its four preferred candidates.
Judge Mintoff had alleged that Abela told him that he preferred to delay naming a new Chief Justice till after the next general election - this was before the country knew that an early general election would happen on 30 May 2026.
Chief Justice Chetcuti was forced to stay on as Chief Justice till consensus can be reached on who should be his successor. The Nationalist Party Opposition blocked two of the government's Chief Justice nominations in Parliament. Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera's nomination was blocked by the Opposition on what should have been Chetcuti's final day in this role. The Opposition then rejected the government's second Chief Justice nomination - Judge Myriam Hayman - at the end of February.
A two-thirds voting majority is required in Parliament for a consensus to be achieved on who should be the next Chief Justice. As a result of this impasse, a bill proposing the introduction of an anti-deadlock mechanism for the appointment of Malta's Chief Justice was tabled in Parliament's agenda in early March.
The Chief Justice is responsible for assigning magistrates to preside over distinct kinds of cases, as well as hearing constitutional and appeal cases, and is effectively viewed as the head of the Maltese judiciary.
Similarly to this ordeal, the Maltese islands are also pending the appointment of a new Auditor General. AG Charles Deguara was similarly forced to remain in his post till a successor is selected by the country's MPs when Parliament unanimously voted, earlier this March, to suspend its deadline to appoint a new Auditor General. This constitutional role also requires a two-thirds cross-party consensus. AG Deguara was set to vacate his post on 30 March.
Before Malta can appoint a new Chief Justice and Auditor General, Parliament must be formed, following casual elections and gender corrective mechanism additions to the House of Representatives, and convene to discuss these pending matters.