Silvio Meli marked his first sitting as a judge yesterday with a lengthy speech to an unusually packed courtroom.

Mr Justice Meli thanked everyone from the Cabinet that nominated him to the court ushers who had worked with him over the past 21 years as a magistrate.

He had not just popped out of a magician’s hat, he said, but, like gold, he “had passed through a fiery trial”.

During his time as a magistrate he had remained as independent as possible, steering away from circumstances that were not in harmony with the office he held.

In attendance were two former presidents, two former chief justices, members of the judiciary, his family, friends and even the committee of the musical society of St George the Martyr of Qormi, where the judge used to live.

Referring to his childhood and formative years, he thanked his family, friends, secondary school teachers and the people he had met through his love of sports.

He also thanked his colleagues at the Commission for Fair Trading over which he presided and worked for the past 16 years, from its very inception.

He said the courts had an economic dimension that was often overlooked, because the judicial system affected the economic as well as the social progress of the country.

The President of the Chamber of Advocates, Reuben Balzan, thanked Mr Justice Meli for his work as a magistrate and said the experience would serve him well. He also paid tribute to the judge’s hard work at the Commission for Fair Trading.