Anna Mallia, an adjudicator on the Small Claims Tribunal who regularly writes in the local media and takes part in current affairs programmes on TV, is seeking to be appointed a judge of the Superior Courts, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
Commenting in the media is in breach of the judiciary’s code of ethics, which also applies to adjudicators like Dr Mallia.
Justice Ministry sources told The Sunday Times of Malta that the veteran lawyer recently asked the Judicial Appointments Committee to approve her candidacy for the senior judicial appointment.
The sources said that before Justice Minister Owen Bonnici makes the necessary recommendation, he wants to be sure that the committee is in agreement, due to the controversy that the appointment might generate.
Dr Mallia, who is an outspoken lawyer, was appointed as adjudicator of the Small Claims Tribunal by the Justice Minister in 2015.
The judiciary’s code of ethics precludes judges and magistrates from expressing opinions in public through any form of mass media including newspapers and TV.
A green light would mean that the code of ethics has no value
And the law is explicit: adjudicators are bound by the same code of ethics. Yet, Dr Mallia continued to write regularly in newspapers and take an active part in TV programmes, commenting on partisan political issues.
The Sunday Times of Malta is informed that last September, Dr Bonnici wrote to all chairpersons of the Small Claims Tribunal to remind them about the need to observe the code of ethics.
“It is my wish that all those lawyers serving as adjudicators of the Small Claims Tribunal and are writing in the press, social media or taking part in TV programmes regulate yourselves in view of the code of ethics,” Dr Bonnici wrote.
Dr Mallia appears to have ignored the letter. Last year, she publicly chided the Chief Justice, Silvio Camilleri, after he sounded a warning on the need for the country to uphold the rule of law, in his traditional speech at the opening of the judicial year.
“Had the Chief Justice of any other democratic country interfered with the Executive he would have been impeached,” Dr Mallia wrote. “The judiciary’s only voice is in the judgments,” she added.
Justice Ministry sources told The Sunday Times of Malta that despite her qualities as a lawyer, Dr Mallia’s appointment as a judge might send the wrong message.
“A green light for her appointment by the Judicial Appointments Committee would mean that the code of ethics has no value and that everyone can do what he pleases,” a source said.
Dr Mallia has been given a number of appointments by the Labour government since its return to power in 2013. Apart from presiding over the Small Claims Tribunal, Dr Mallia currently serves as Chair of the Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal, chairperson of the Medicines Review Board and is a member of the board of governors of the Arbiter for Financial Services.
In the past Dr Mallia was a delegate of the Labour Party and member of the Front Maltin Inqumu, led by former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.