The association of Malta’s judiciary has refused to comment on a magistrate’s outburst in a courtroom where she compared a lawyer to a “whore” after the lawyer greeted her cousin with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

The comment was deemed as “grossly disproportionate… totally inappropriate, unacceptable and intolerable” by the Chamber of Advocates.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the Association for Judges and Magistrates of Malta said the association would not comment on the matter.

The association was asked whether it condoned the magistrate’s slur and whether it will be taking any action. In reply, association president Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale replied curtly: “We will not be commenting.”

The members of the association’s committee are judges Joanne Vella Cuschieri and Aaron Bugeja and magistrates Claire Zammit Stafrace and Josette Demicoli.

The May 30 incident came to the fore last week when Nationalist MP Janice Chetcuti claimed Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace compared her to a “whore” after the lawyer greeted her cousin in a courtroom.

The magistrate reprimanded Chetcuti and another lawyer, Melhino Mercieca, for “kissing during a court sitting” and asked the chamber to look into the matter.

A court minute recording the incident reads: “The court deplores the conduct of Dr Marino (sic Melhino) Mercieca and Dr Janice Chetcuti who felt it was opportune to be kissing during a hearing. The court considers this conduct to be highly disrespectful to it and orders notification to the Chamber of Advocates for any provision it deems appropriate.”

After looking into the matter, the chamber said that, while this kind of greeting was “certainly not appropriate conduct” and fell below the decorum expected of lawyers in a courtroom, a simple verbal warning in the circumstances would have been in order.

It added that “what was extraordinary and indeed shocked other lawyers who happened to be in the same hall at the time was the magistrate’s disproportionate reaction to what is ultimately a minor infraction of conduct on the part of the two lawyers”.