President George Abela said yesterday the code of ethics should be the bible of members of the judiciary, who should be governed by their conscience in the absence of written rules.

He was speaking during the swearing in of Madam Justice Edwina Grima, a former magistrate, and lawyer Joanne Vella Cuschieri, who has been appointed magistrate.

Dr Abela congratulated Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Justice Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici for recommending two women to be appointed to such high offices.

The code of ethics should be the judiciary’s bible and, in the absence of written rules, one should rely on one’s conscience to guide one’s behaviour, he said, adding that justice should also be humane.

Madam Justice Grima thanked all those who had expressed trust in her when she became a magistrate seven years ago.

In the criminal court, she added, she had come face to face with every type of social problem there was and, as a result, she had matured.

She thanked her family, her husband and his parents, who would help out whenever she needed to drop everything and go to work.

Above all, she thanked her parents who, she said, had instilled values that allowed her to become the person she was.

Magistrate Vella Cuschieri said she was honoured to join the judiciary and thanked those who had expressed confidence in her. She also thanked her family.

The new magistrate said it was an honour for her to stand besides Madam Justice Grima whom she knew as a lawyer and, now, a colleague.