(Adds shadow minister's statement)
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici today announced the much awaited reform in the way appointments are made to the Judiciary, but confirmed that he will still carry on with the appointment of Dr Carolina Farrugia Frendo as magistrate according to the old system.
He said at a press conference that questions were being raised over the constitutionality of Dr Farrugia Frendo’s eligibility only because she happened to be the daughter of Speaker Anglu Farrugia. No such questions were raised when the brother of a minister or a former Parliamentary Secretary were appointed to the bench.
Dr Bonnici said that the current system where the minister directly appoints members of the judiciary will cease and a new system would be introduced.
Nominees would first be scrutinised by a sub-committee of the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
Pressed on whether in view of this reform he would stop all appointments until the new law is enacted, Dr Bonnici refused to commit himself.
He confirmed that it is his intention to continue with the appointment of Dr-Farrugia Frendo’s nomination.
Dr Farrugia Frendo will only reach the seven year experience threshold needed for appointment next month. She was nominated by the government last month.
The new bill also introduces new concepts of disciplinary proceedings against members of the judiciary and proposes changes to the pensions systems whereby members of the bench can opt to continue working until turning 68 years, and qualify for an added service pension.
Changes to come only after minister appoint people he wants - Jason Azzopardi
In a reaction, shadow minister Jason Azzopardi said that while the Nationalist Party acknowledged that the way judicial appointments were made should be changed, it could not agree with the way Dr Bonnici was acting.
For if he continued to insist on the appointment of Dr Farrugia Frendo as magistrate in spite of the Constitutional doubts about the appointment, the changes being proposed were just cosmetic because they would only be made after the people the minister wanted to appoint were appointed.
He also noted that the minister’s news conference only came two weeks after the Opposition moved its own private member’s Bill on the matter and three years after the minister had been presented with a bill on the same issue.
Dr Azzopardi reiterated his call for the minister to suspend all appointments until the changes were made.