Rule of law group Repubblika has written to the Prime Minister requesting the substitution of lawyer Pawlu Lia as the government’s representative on the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

In its letter to Abela (see pdf link below) Repubblika said Lia’s position on the commission cast a shadow on the independence of the judiciary and on justice for three reasons.

• Lia was a practising lawyer under the authority of judges and magistrates who could end up before him as a member of the commission. This was a conflict that prejudiced the independence of the judiciary.
• Lia was also closely related to a member of the judiciary, an issue that was already in court; and
• Lia was also the lawyer of Abela’s predecessor, who had appointed him to the post and who was involved in a considerable number of magisterial inquiries which could end in prosecutions in the criminal court.

If the country wanted to really show that everyone was equal before the law, Lia could not continue to hold this position, Repubblika argued as it called for Lia to be substituted.