Europe’s top court will soon have its say about Malta's system of appointing judges and magistrates, after a case by Repubblika was officially registered with the European Court of Justice. 

The proceedings were registered 11 days after the NGO's judicial appointments case was finalised by the Maltese Court, upholding the request for referral.

The Civil Court's First Hall delivered its order, including the finalised questions to be put to the ECJ and a request for the referral to be handled with urgency, in its pronouncement on November 25, which was delivered by Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti.

Sources close to the case have explained to Times of Malta that the ECJ will first deliver an order regarding the request for the urgent procedure. This is expected to take place by the end of the month. 

The request for an accelerated procedure had stemmed from the fact that the subject-matter was not only of national interest but possibly also concerned the European juridical system.

“On a domestic level, this case was affecting the way forward of cases and legal certainty of judgments already delivered by various courts, including by those members of the judiciary appointed in April of 2019,” Mr Justice Chetcuti had observed.

“The very foundation of the current judicial system was being placed in serious doubt on account of this issue, concerning the constitutional framework of the Maltese State,” the Judge had declared, pointing out that the situation would be further compounded in the coming months when a number of judges would be reaching retire age.

Lawyers Simon Busuttil, Jason Azzopardi and Karol Aquilina are assisting Repubblika.