Archbishop Mgr Charles Scicluna has called on members of the judiciary and the legal profession to put truth at the centre of the administration of justice, warning that public confidence in the courts depends on decisions being based on facts rather than connections, influence, prejudice or convenience.

Delivering a homily during Mass marking the start of the forensic year at St John's Co-Cathedral on Thursday, the Archbishop said the administration of justice must be guided by truth, conscience, integrity and respect for due process.

He reminded those entrusted with administering justice that they, too, were accountable to the truth, their conscience and ultimately God, who, as Scripture states, "shows no partiality".

Reflecting on the words of Pope Pius XII, who told the Roman Rota in 1942 that "truth is the law of justice", the Archbishop presented five principles as commitments for the judicial year ahead.

The first, he said, was that justice begins with the search for truth.

"Before interpretation comes fact. Before judgment comes listening. Before sentencing comes the patient, sometimes exhausting, search for what is true," Mgr Scicluna said.

He argued that the obstacles to justice extended beyond outright lies to include half-truths, convenient silences, deliberately concealed facts and evidence that was carelessly ignored.

Justice, he said, required the courage to allow the facts to speak, even when they were uncomfortable, inconvenient to those in power or contrary to public opinion. The same principle applied when the evidence contradicted an accusation.

"The State does not own the truth," he said, adding that truth was not something to be manufactured but something to be sought.

The Archbishop's second principle was that justice, because it is rooted in truth, must speak to the conscience.

While laws, precedents, procedures and evidence were indispensable, the administration of justice ultimately required people to listen, discern and decide.

He stressed the importance of intellectual and moral humility, warning that personal experience could enlighten but also create prejudice. A person's social standing, background, education or character should not alter the obligation to establish the truth.

Mgr Scicluna called for those involved in the justice system to have the courage to recognise the truth and act upon it.

The third principle concerned public confidence in the rule of law. This was particularly important in a small country such as Malta, where personal, professional and political relationships frequently intersect, he said.

Confidence that judicial decisions were based on facts rather than connections, influence, corruption, prejudice or convenience was essential.

"Justice must be done; but society must also be able to trust that justice is being done," the Archbishop said.

He added that public confidence could not be imposed but had to be earned through independence, competence, integrity and consistency, as well as fair hearings and decisions demonstrating that every person had been heard.

When that confidence was lost, the damage extended beyond individual cases and affected the social fabric itself.

The fourth principle was that the protection of individual rights must be considered alongside the common good.

The Archbishop said the common good could not mean allowing the majority to prevail at the expense of the individual, just as individual rights could not mean disregarding the interests of others.

The challenge for the law was to uphold both, guided by wisdom and fairness. He referred to King Solomon's prayer for an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong, describing it as an appropriate prayer at the beginning of the judicial year.

His fifth principle was respect for procedure, which he described as one of justice's essential safeguards.

Although procedures could sometimes appear cumbersome or frustrating, they ensured that both sides were heard, evidence was tested and reasons were given. Abandoning them because a particular outcome appeared obvious could quickly lead to arbitrary justice.

Mgr Scicluna also cautioned against confusing mercy with the abandonment of justice.

Christian mercy, he said, did not mean indifference to truth or the denial of wrongdoing. Rather, justice and mercy complemented one another: mercy prevented justice from becoming vengeance, while justice prevented mercy from becoming sentimentality.

Concluding his homily, he urged those responsible for administering justice to seek truth, form their conscience, build trust, serve the common good and respect due process.

He prayed for all those who would enter the courts during the coming year, including people seeking justice, those accused of wrongdoing, witnesses and those defending rights.

He also called for the courts to remain places "where power bows before law, where law remains at the service of the human person, and where the search for truth never grows tired".