Updated 6.06pm with PN statement
The Chamber of Advocates has called on the Prime Minister to publicly disassociate himself from aspersions cast on a judge's integrity by one of his communications aides.
In a post on his blog, Glenn Bedingfield suggested that judge Lorraine Schembri Orland had yesterday awarded the Nationalist Party two extra parliamentary seats due to partisan leanings.
"[She] had contested the election as a PN candidate in 1992. Instead of getting that seat, she gave two to the PN," Mr Bedingfield wrote.
Mr Bedingfield is paid a full-time salary from the public purse to serve as the Prime Minister's communications consultant.
The Chamber of Advocates said that it was "totally unacceptable" to personally attack a member of the judiciary, rather than criticise the judgement itself.
It noted that there were several precedents of judges and magistrates having been previously active in party politics, and that they had all carried out their judicial roles with impartiality and fairness.
"Comments like Mr Bedingfield's deserve to be condemned regardless of where they come from. They are even more unacceptable when it is a Prime Minister's spokesman who is making them, since this undermines respect in the judiciary."
The Chamber said it expected both Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Justice Minister Owen Bonnici to publicly disassociate themselves from Mr Bedingfield's statements, which it said "could harm perception of our judiciary's independence both locally as well as in international fora."
Asked for his views on Mr Bedingfield's comments, PL deputy leader candidate Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi was evasive.
"I think the party media should focus on the party's message," he told journalists attending the launch of his campaign.
'Remember Anglu Farrugia', says PN
In a statement, the Nationalist Party drew parallels between Mr Bedingfield's comments and those made by Anglu Farrugia in the run-up to the 2013 general election.
Dr Farrugia had at the time accused Magistrate Audrey Demicoli of political bias in a ruling about vote rigging. He subsequently stepped down as PL deputy leader after Joseph Muscat had said the remarks were "out of place" and "undermined one of the country's highest institutions."
The PN called on Dr Muscat to treat Mr Bedingfield in the same way he had treated Dr Farrugia, saying the latter's comments were "far less serious" than those made by Mr Bedingfield.
A failure to remove Mr Bedingfield from his post as communications aide would confirm Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil's claims that "there is a law for the gods of Castille and another for the common man," the PN said.