PM denies judiciary interference, won't step aside from chief justice talks

Updated 6.30pm

Robert Abela denied allegations of his interference with the judiciary raised by Judge Wenzu Mintoff in an explosive letter sent to Cabinet on Monday.

Speaking to journalists hours after Times of Malta published the letter, Abela said he would not be recusing himself from discussions over the next chief justice, as requested by Mintoff, adding he could not "abdicate" from his constitutional duties.

In his letter, Mintoff claimed Abela had pressured the judge’s staff in an attempt to influence a judgement which would increase his payout by “thousands” of euro, even allegedly threatening to have the staff member sacked.

Mintoff described Abela as “caring more about money than an independent judiciary”. 

The allegation refers to the 2015 Paqpaqli Għall-Istrina crash, in which Abela represented one of the victims. The alleged interference took place shortly before Abela was appointed prime minister.

Abela said the episode raised by Mintoff had happened many weeks after the case was concluded.

He insisted that Mintoff “never said that I ever interfered with a court sentence,” since the matter he referred to is “a function of the court registrar,” not the judiciary.

“There was a lack of agreement on the taxable amount calculated, and that was the issue from start to finish,” Abela said, adding that claims that he did so to get a bigger payday were untrue. Abela claimed that he worked the case in question pro bono.

'No regrets'

Ultimately, Abela said he had “absolutely no regrets” over his behaviour in the case, adding that he would have no problem discussing the matter with the judiciary standards commissioner, should he be summoned.

Abela said he had not spoken to Mintoff since news of the letter emerged, however the “unusual” episode would “in no way” influence the choice of chief justice.

Asked if Mintoff’s role as judge was still tenable, Abela said a person’s worth should not be judged on one episode adding that throughout his career Mintoff has acted with integrity even when certain lawyers “humiliated” him.

Abela described Mintoff’s letter as “sparked by his desire to serve the country,” adding that he had “full faith” in the judge.

The prime minister also denied the suggestion that he was deliberately delaying the selection of the chief justice until after the election, saying his government had already put forward two names for the role, with “the ball now in the opposition’s court”.

Abela’s comments came shortly ahead of a heated parliamentary session during which he sidestepped the contents of Mintoff’s letter.

Earlier in the afternoon, opposition leader Alex Borg said the country was waiting for Abela’s replies to Mintoff’s claims, which included accusations of interfering with the judiciary. 

Meanwhile, ADPD and Momentum called for Abela to resign.

“I was ready for a debate had the opposition asked for one, but the fact that it hasn’t been requested says a lot,” Abela cryptically said.

'Full faith in Lawrence Mintoff'

Instead, Abela skirted around the contents of Mintoff’s letter, saying only there are a range of considerations taken into account in the choice of Chief Justice, including the nominee’s age.

In his letter, the 66-year-old Mintoff alleged that Abela told him he overlooked his nomination because of his age.

“I have full faith in Lawrence Mintoff.” Abela told parliament. “I understand that he has the wish to serve as Chief Justice and I respect that wish,” he added.

In parliament, Abela made no reference to several of Mintoff’s claims, a grievance raised by Mintoff, over the contents of a biography of the late Dom Mintoff published by the Labour Party’s publishing arm, also did not feature in Abela’s comments in parliament.

Instead, Abela accused the opposition of failing to reply to the government’s nomination of Miriam Hayman.

'A crisis in the country'

Speaker Anġlu Farrugia then moved to the next item on parliament’s agenda, a discussion on changes to Malta’s family laws, to the loud protestations of the opposition.

“It is unacceptable to continue discussing other issues when we have a crisis in the country,” Alex Borg said, amid the commotion.

The sitting was briefly suspended before resuming with a discussion about Malta’s family courts.

In a statement, the Nationalist Party questioned why Abela did not deny in parliament what Mintoff had said in his letter, accusing him of missing out on an opportunity "to clear his name".

"Had Robert Abela had nothing to hide, he would have categorically denied what was contained in the Judge’s letter," the PN said. "The fact that this evening in Parliament he did not deny even a single word of this letter further confirms that Abela has something to hide."