Chief Justice Emeritus Hugh Harding died yesterday aged 88, just one day after his wife Marian passed away on Tuesday, aged 85.

“Not even in death did they part,” the family said in its obituary, asking God to grant him eternal rest.

“He was a man of great precision and integrity,” his former colleague, President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, said of Prof. Harding, whom he also called a “formidable gentleman”.

Not even in death did they part

Their fathers, Judge William Harding and politician Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, were friends, and he remembers him as a “very sweet person”.

As lawyers, Dr Mifsud Bonnici and Prof. Harding were sometimes on opposing sides of a case.

“Prof. Harding was loyal towards his client, the courts and his adversary. He knew the law well and he was a difficult adversary,” he said.

Prof. Harding was called to the Bar in 1949 and was appointed lecturer in History of Legislation at the University a year later.

He served as Election Commissioner in the 1962, 1966 and 1971 general elections and as Independence Referendum Commissioner in 1964.

He was appointed judge in 1980 and served as Chief Justice from September 1987 to 1990. In 1991 he was appointed chairman of the Permanent Law Reform Commission. Prof. Harding authored among others Maltese Legal History under British Rule 1801 – 1836. Lawyer Joe Micallef Stafrace was one of his students in history of legislation.

“He was a model judge and Chief Justice. He upheld discipline in the courtroom but allowed space for people to express themselves. You had to appear in front of him well prepared as he did not tolerate time wasting.

“No one ever doubted his impartiality. His appointment as Chief Justice was a natural promotion and he did honour to the post,” said Dr Micallef Stafrace, who last spoke to him some three weeks ago over the phone.

President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami was also one of his former students at university.

He said he was best described as “a perfect gentleman. “He was very human. You could trust him and deal with him,” he added.

The government also expressed its condolences to the Harding family and praised the former Chief Justice for his seriousness and integrity.

It also praised him for his work as a Malta Drydocks lawyer and for his studies of Malta’s legal history.

The funeral cortège will leave Mater Dei Hospital on Saturday at 9am for Stella Maris parish church, Sliema, where Mass præsente cadavere will be said at 9.30am.