Chief Justice advice to judge, magistrate over comments

The Chief Justice has asked a judge and a magistrate to ensure they were in conformity with the provisions of their code of ethics in view of the fact that they had expressed disagreement with aspects of the sports law in public positions they held outside the courts, Education, Youth and Employment Minister Louis Galea revealed yesterday.

Dr Galea was referring to Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco and Magistrate Antonio Mizzi, the president of the Malta Olympic Committee and its media director respectively.

The MOC says the Sports Act, which came into force in January 2003, is in violation of the Olympic Charter.

The public declarations made by Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and Magistrate Mizzi in their positions as high officials of the MOC justified the Chief Justice's concerns, the minister said.

He said the government could not continue to ignore the Chief Justice's warning and drew attention to the fact that saying they did not agree with certain aspects of the law was in serious breach of the code of ethics for judges and magistrates, which they were obliged to observe.

Last night the MOC declared that Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and Magistrate Mizzi had been democratically elected on a personal basis and not due to their being members of the judiciary.

What they had stated was that the Olympic Charter expressed concepts that were different to those found in the Sports Act, and these concepts had been expressed by MOC members at an annual general meeting.

"In these circumstances, the MOC feels that what was said by Minister Galea in his press statement was unjustifiable and deplorable," the MOC said.

Dr Galea was addressing the media on the controversy between the MOC and the Malta Sports Council (KMS) regarding the committee's claims of loss of autonomy due to the council's interference, excessive auditing, the issue of delays in the receipt of funds. The MOC also insists the Sports Act is in conflict with the Olympic Charter.

The minister strongly denied any interference by the sports council in any administrative, technical and management decisions, or the allocation of its funds.

The government only demanded accountability and transparency from the sports organisations that benefited from public funds, Dr Galea stressed. He said he was unable to understand why a simple audit should be considered a vexation, unnecessary scrutiny or bureaucracy, or interpreted as a lack of appreciation and confidence in the integrity of the organisations concerned.

The government had asked for fiscal documents to substantiate its payments and the KMS had found no proof of spend for about Lm22,000 of the Lm110,000 under the 2004 budget.

Nevertheless, the minister was aware of and understood that the sports federations needed to go through a learning curve and he had no intention of withholding the Lm150,000 under the 2005 budget, the first Lm100,000 of which would be passed on to the MOC at the end of February.

He described as "insensitive and imprudent" the fact that voluntary associations, receiving government funds, would create a controversy on day-to-day aspects of public administration.

Dr Galea pointed out that "resistance from the MOC has been coming for a while". He quoted contradictory letters from the MOC president saying "there is no problem with the MOC sending expense reports and original fiscal receipts" while complaining that the interference and excessive scrutiny was affecting its autonomy.

The minister described the MOC's comments as "extra and unfounded". He said the committee should be careful not to let anyone, for the wrong reasons, stall progress in the field of sports, which the government has strongly supported, within its means, over the last few years.

With their incorrect attitude, the officials in question were doing a disservice to athletes and were not taking sports forward but only damaging it, he said.

He insisted there was no basis for the MOC to threaten to withdraw from international games and that the committee's decision to stay out of them was wrong. After all, the government's financial assistance was there for that purpose.

"The MOC has every guarantee of autonomy, independence, integrity and freedom in administration and is obliged to use it in the greatest interest of the athletes, without raising useless and unfounded issues, in respect of the country's laws and with accountability on the use of public funds," the minister said.

He expressed surprise and said he never expected such a controversy in such a way from such people.

Dr Galea intended to continue collaborating with the committee, which, in turn, needed to take note of the minister's comments. It could not expect to be the only voice to speak on sports, he said.