Mr Justice Vincent De Gaetano has been appointed Chief Justice, it was announced yesterday. He will be sworn in at the Palace, Valletta, by President Guido de Marco tomorrow morning.

The appointment, by the President made on the advice of the Prime Minister, follows the resignation of Chief Justice Noel Arrigo who, with Mr Justice Patrick Vella, after they were charged with accepting bribes in return for reducing a drug trafficker's jail term.

A motion for the impeachment of the judges was dropped after the former Chief Justice Arrigo and Mr Justice Vella resigned.

Mr Justice Joseph David Camilleri was appointed Acting Chief Justice.

Mr Justice De Gaetano, 50, was educated at St Aloysius College, the University of Malta and the University of Cambridge.

He was called to the bar in 1976, was appointed Senior Counsel for the Republic in 1979 and Assistant Attorney General in the Attorney-General's Office in 1988.

Between 1989 and 1994, Mr Justice De Gaetano served as Deputy Attorney General.

While serving in the AG's Office, Dr De Gaetano was one of the prosecutors before the Criminal Court and Court of Criminal Appeal.

He was also responsible for providing general legal advice to Government in matters of public law and contributed to the legislative drafting, particularly in the fields of public law and criminal law.

Dr De Gaetano was appointed a Judge of the Superior Courts in 1994. He has served on various international boards and committees.

Between 1988 and 1994 he was a member of the ad hoc Committee of Experts on the Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless Persons of the Council of Europe.

In 1988 he was also appointed Malta's representative on the Steering Committee on Legal Co-operation of the Council of Europe.

Dr De Gaetano was elected chairman of this committee in January 1998, a post he held until December 1999.

He was also the chairman of the Multidisciplinary Group on Corruption of the Council of Europe between 1995 and 1997.

He is a founder member of the Association of Judges and Magistrates of Malta. In April 2002, he was elected a member of the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

Dr De Gaetano has published various papers and articles in Malta and abroad.

He is married to Marie-Therese née Ambrogio and has two children.