Robert Abela on Friday warned that people enjoying security of tenure should not use it as a pretext for abuse as he fielded questions from journalists about magistrate Yana Micallef’s outburst against PN MP Janice Chetcuti.

Abela said he wanted to send a clear message to all institutions that security of tenure should not be abused.

“Security of tenure is there to ensure impartiality. It is not a pretext for people to abuse their positions or show arrogance,” Abela said.

The prime minister expressed his agreement with a statement published on Friday by the Chambers of Advocates, which both criticised Chetcuti’s lack of decorum and slammed the disproportionate reaction by the magistrate.

The chamber said the magistrate, comparing Chetcuti’s behaviour in the courtroom to that of a 'whore' and the 'worst criminal' is "grossly disproportionate", "totally inappropriate, unacceptable, and intolerable".

The chamber was reacting to an incident on May 30, during which PN MP Janice Chetcuti claimed magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace compared her to a 'whore' after the lawyer greeted her cousin with a hug and a kiss on the cheek in a courtroom.

Micallef Stafrace reprimanded Chetcuti and another lawyer, Melhino Mercieca, for "kissing during a court sitting" and asked the chamber to look into the matter. 

The chamber looked into the matter, interviewing Chetcuti herself and other members of the profession who happened to be in the same hall at the time of the incident.

In its statement on Friday, it said that Mercieca greeted Chetcuti "with a short hug and possibly a peck on the cheek that lasted a few seconds".

While this kind of greeting was "certainly not appropriate conduct" and fell below the decorum expected of lawyers in a courtroom, a simple verbal warning in the circumstances would have been in order, the chamber said.