During the years when Malta was still a British colony, in the mid-20th century, hence, under British rule, prior to Malta becoming independent in 1964, my uncle, Joseph Flores, was a member of Parliament elected on the Malta Labour Party ticket. He was also a leading criminal defence lawyer.

During that period, he had defended a certain Joseph Connell, who was accused and found guilty of being an accomplice in his wife’s murder. Connell was sentenced to life imprisonment and he appealed from the Supreme Court judgment because he believed something irregular had occurred. He lost the case once more; however, during those years one could appeal again to the Privy Council (Courts of Law in England).

My uncle, assisted by Lord Russell, according to procedure, managed to win the case and Connell walked free.

When Dom Mintoff was prime minister in the 1970s, he had mentioned the case and reasoned that we had judges good enough to decide legal matters and that Uncle Joseph – seen above walking behind Mintoff and George Borg Olivier – was the only lawyer throughout all those years who managed to win one case.