Update 4 | Zammit Young turns down nomination after judiciary watchdog raises doubts on appointment

Commission for the Administration of Justice cites 'obstacle' to Ingrid Zammit Young's appointment to magistrate... the Constitution

Ingrid Zammit Young has been nominated to become magistrate but she was only recently appointed to the Employment Commission.
Ingrid Zammit Young has been nominated to become magistrate but she was only recently appointed to the Employment Commission.

The Commission for the Administration of Justice has confirmed that a member of the Employment Commission cannot be made a magistrate, because the judicial role is also that of a “public officer” as laid down in the Constitution.

The CAJ toned down its declaration on the ineligibility of Ingrid Zammit Young, the chairperson of the Employment Commission, to become magistrate, saying that any interpretation of the Constitution was up to the Constitutional Court to decide.

The decision prompted Ingrid Zammit Young to inform the Prime Minister that it would prudent of her to turn down the appointment, in view of the doubts raised by the CAJ.

But the CAJ was clear in providing the government with a clear-cut explanation that Zammit Young's nomination was in breach of the Constitution. “In the CAJ’s opinion, there is the possibility of an obstacle to her appointment, because Ingrid Zammit Young served as chairman of the Employment of the Commission, which according to Article 120 (4) of the Constitution, precludes her from an appointment to a public role before the lapse of three years from her last day on the Commission.”

The decision was communicated to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this afternoon.

Ingrid Zammit Young, 43 is a litigation lawyer for telecoms firm GO plc who in October 2015 was appointed chairperson of the Employment Commission.

But Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, appearing as a witness, today put the CAJ in a quandary over the fact that magistrate Francesco Depasquale was appointed in breach of the three-year constitutional limit on Employment Commission members.

Bonnici put the spotlight on Depasquale, who was appointed a member on the Employment Commission on 16 September 2008 but whose appointment was withdrawn on 16 October 2008. Source close to the magistrates’ chamber told MaltaToday that he had never performed any duties on the Commission. After refusing the appointment, he resigned immediately from the Commission.

Depasquale was sworn in on 28 April, 2011 – making his appointment five months short of the prescribed three-year hiatus from his Employment Commission appointment.

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The Commission for the Administration for Justice is composed of ten members: the President of Malta, as chairman; Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri as deputy chairman; Attorney General Peter Grech; two members elected from among the Judges of the Superior Courts; two members elected from among the Magistrates of the Inferior Courts; one member appointed by the Prime Minister and one member appointed by Opposition leader; and the President of the Chamber of Advocates, George Hyzler.

Since the Chairman has only a casting vote, this means that the members of the judiciary on the Commission always have a majority of votes. This is considered as essential to ensure autonomy from the executive and the legislature and to safeguard the independence of the judiciary.

The other nomination to the judiciary was that of Caroline Farrugia Frendo, who at 33 has until March to fulfil the minimum seven years’ practice required for sitting magistrates to be constitutionally appointed. She is the daughter of Speaker Anglu Farrugia, a former Labour deputy leader.