Boycott of key national ceremonies ‘only the start’ – retired judge

Sciberras was speaking to MaltaToday in the wake of an undeclared judicial boycott of national festivities, which started with the traditional mass in honour of Victory Day (September 8), and will also include the high-profile Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday (21 September).

This year only Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri attended Victory Day mass, and conspicuously omitted to wear the traditional judges’ toga – perhaps not to draw attention to the fact that he was the only judge in attendance.

Earlier, MaltaToday confirmed the boycott will be upheld during Wednesday’s Independence Day official ceremonies, meaning that chairs previously occupied by esteemed members of the judiciary will this year be left vacant.

The boycott was prompted over disagreements between the judiciary and the government over the conditions magistrates and judges are expected to work under, and unacceptable financial remuneration and pension structures – issues to which solutions were promised years ago.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Sciberras slammed the “completely unacceptable” situation whereby the judiciary’s complaints “are shelved for months and years by the persons responsible.”

“In this regard I feel that a boycott of key national ceremonies is probably just a first step,” he said, adding that “judges are by now fed up with promises made to them to better their working and salary conditions.”

“If the judiciary has taken the collective action not to attend such ceremonies I am sure that this is the first in a series of actions that they might decide to pursue further on,” he also warned.

Addressing the problems that motivated the judiciary’s issues with the administration (and, in turn, the boycott) Sciberras says that one of the main problems is the lack of well-trained staff, including researchers “specially trained to aid members of the judiciary to draft and submit judgments in a more efficient and expeditious manner.”

“Such amendments and new laws cannot be properly enforced if members of the judiciary are ill at ease in the exercise of their functions,” he said.

He added however that any such improvements require improvements in other aspects, such as Court organisation and procedure in general. “In this sense I wholly concur with the view that the entire Court system needs a complete overhaul,” he said.

He also said the judges’ chambers lack sufficient space and that salaries “leave much to be desired”, adding that this is especially so “when compared to what the large number of Government advisers, chairmen and other professions are receiving.”

“How can we take it against judges for demanding better salaries when Government Ministers can so readily increase their own?” he said, in a not-so-subtle jab at government’s contentious move in increasing MPs’ honoraria and Cabinet’s wage in 2008.

Sciberras said that judges are expected to enforce the law, even against the highest authorities of the State, they must be allowed to work in a comfortable environment, adding that “experience has shown that for the powers that be the judiciary has become the Cinderella of the system.”

“This situation is no longer tolerable and improvements are urgently needed,” he warned.

Sciberras however conceded that while he was “blessed with a formidable staff” and a self-confessed workaholic, he was never affected by the work and the salary he received.

He however admits that “like all ex-judges, I am feeling the pinch of a low pension (which stands at €890 per month).”

Sciberras also emphasised the “great respect” that should be commanded by those members of the judiciary “who are doing a formidable job with the tools that they have at their disposal”. 

Unless the situation changes, the judiciary’s boycott is also expected to run as long as October up till the opening of the Forensic year, a day that traditionally marks the start of the year for all things related to the workings of the Court.