PN ready to continue chief justice talks, Borg insists

Opposition leader Alex Borg has insisted the Nationalist Party is prepared to continue discussions on the appointment of the next chief justice.

Speaking in a televised interview on Thursday evening, Borg said it was “crucial” that discussions continue “in private”.

On Wednesday, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said he was still waiting for feedback from the PN on the latest government nominee for the chief justice role.

It is understood that the government had proposed Madam Justice Miriam Hayman during a  meeting held last week.

Speaking in the wake of the explosive letter sent by Judge Wenzu Mintoff to cabinet in which a series of allegations were made against the Prime Minister, Borg urged Robert Abela to reassure the public that “there is no crisis in the judiciary”.

He insisted that discussions on the successor to incumbent Mark Chetcuti “have never stopped”.

“We are determined to continue the discussions,” Borg said.

Abela told parliament on Tuesday that criteria for the preferred candidate include having a judge who is not too close to retirement age, but not too young either.

A day after it was revealed that the government had proposed Madam Justice Miriam Hayman, sources within the PN told Times of Malta the Opposition were nominating Judge Wenzu Mintoff as a potential candidate.

On Thursday, the Opposition leader reiterated the importance that privacy and confidentiality is respected throughout the process, explaining that judges who are being named as possible candidates will have to continue serving as judges even after the process is completed.

“We can’t just throw names around to be judged by the public,” he said, adding this was the reason why the PN insists on never releasing any names of potential candidates for the role in public.

“But the prime minister didn’t do that.”

Borg added the Nationalist Party had given the prime minister “a selection of several names to give him a choice”.

In his five-page letter, Mintoff asks for Abela to be removed from talks, negotiations and decisions on the appointment of the new chief Justice, claiming the prime minister is biased against him.

The letter also revealed the judge and the prime minister had met in person on February 11. During that meeting, Mintoff writes that Abela said if he were to choose one of the candidates nominated by the PN, he would be “bowing to what the Opposition dictates” and “lose the support of his ‘diehards’.”

The prime minister told journalists there was no ethical issue with meeting members of the judiciary to discuss the appointment of the next chief justice.

The deadlock over the appointment of a successor to Chief Justice Chetcuti, which requires a two-thirds parliamentary majority, has been described by one source as a “charade” that is poisoning the atmosphere within the courts.