Judges’ retirement age to rise as government proposes new standards czar for judiciary

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard has tabled a constitutional reform bill that will increase the retirement age for judges and magistrates, while introducing a new standards commissioner tasked with overseeing judicial conduct.

Attard tabled the bill in parliament on Tuesday. These amendments usually require a two-thirds majority.

While the motion contains no public details, government sources told MaltaToday that the bill will increase the age of retirement for judges and magistrates to 70 years old while introducing a commissioner for standards of the judiciary.

The same sources also told MaltaToday that the government has already met with the opposition to make sure the bill gets the two-thirds support needed.

In October 2023, Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti had proposed a structure for the monitoring and internal discipline of the judiciary during his speech at the start of the sena forensi.

He proposed an internal standards watchdog to constantly scrutinise and monitor the behaviour and comportment standard of the judiciary.

The Constitution already empowers the chief justice to send misbehaving members of the judiciary before the Commission for the Administration of Justice. But to do so, the chief justice must be armed with facts which have been confirmed independently and objectively. Chetcuti also said that the chief justice should also be subject to this oversight.

Last September, the justice minister said in an interview with MaltaToday that he will be presenting a bill to Cabinet to strengthen disciplinary procedures.

His ministry had analysed the situation in the judiciary and explored ways to introduce greater accountability.

He said the Association of Judges and Magistrates were willing to engage on the reforms and cooperated as such.