Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi yesterday called for a reform of judicial ethics, arguing that a very strict interpretation meant that members of the judiciary had to give up their voluntary work in the community.

In his inaugural speech as a judge after spending 26 years as a magistrate, Mr Justice Mizzi said the reform was needed to update the code of ethics to reflect today’s realities and with Maltese society being so small, anyone who could give their input was needed.

In 2008, he had been told by the Commission for the Administration of Justice that he was in breach of the code of ethics for the judiciary because of his position as president of the Malta Basketball Association.

Together with Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, then president of the Malta Olympic Committee, they publicly insisted they were doing nothing wrong and would not stand down. The then magistrate chose not to contest the basketball association post in June 2011.

In referring to justice reform, Mr Justice Mizzi said serving the State beyond the judicial aspect should be considered an honour.

If everyone used common sense there would not be such a backlog of work before the courts today

The judge said that for reform to be implemented there was no need to wait for the conclusion of the Justice Reform Commission headed by Judge Giovanni Bonello.

He said if everyone used common sense there would not be such a backlog of work before the courts today. If common sense was used in district case sittings, for example, half of them would not make it to court.

To ensure successful reform there would have to be synergy between all partners in the judicial process, from the adjudicators, to the Attorney General, police and lawyers.

To appreciate the life and work of a magistrate, one would have to sit through the district cases to see what they had to deal with, he stressed. Magistrates have to deal with many social cases which should never have been brought to court but dealt with in other forums.

Mr Justice Mizzi thanked his parents, his wife (and MEP) Marlene, his daughter Alexandra and his staff, among others.

Also speaking, Chamber of Advocates vice-president Ian Spiteri Bailey said respect between lawyers and the judiciary, as well as the public’s respect towards the courts, had diminished.

He called upon adjudicators to do everything they could to be exemplary in their behaviour.