The chief justice, an election, and the status quo

With no political convergence over the appointment of a new chief justice, it appears incumbent Mark Chetcuti will have to stay on for a while longer. 

In the wake of a political climate that has soured, Opposition Leader Alex Borg on Saturday proposed that Chetcuti remain in office until new legislation with an anti-deadlock mechanism for the appointment of chief justice is agreed. 

“The nomination for chief justice should be subject to new legislation that considers some form of anti-deadlock mechanism that still has to be agreed upon by both sides,” Borg said in a Facebook explainer. 

He also accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of disrupting the nomination process for “partisan aims”. 

Last Thursday, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard had also suggested an anti-deadlock mechanism for the role. The appointment of chief justice requires a two-thirds parliamentary majority, a safeguard that was introduced in 2020 to ensure cross-party consensus. 

Sources close to the PN told MaltaToday Alex Borg is in no mood to entertain new names in the current circumstances. “He knows that Prime Minister Robert Abela is facing a crisis that could bring forward an early election, possibly by the end of May and is unlikely to agree to a new name just for the sake of it,” the sources said. 

The chief justice saga blew up from a political wrangle into a chaotic affair after damning claims were made against the prime minister by Judge Lawrence Mintoff in a sworn declaration to ministers. While Mintoff is now facing a disciplinary process, Abela has refrained from publicly addressing the accusations. 

Meanwhile, a person close to Mintoff told MaltaToday, the judge is incensed at the insinuation made by people close to the Labour Party that he was in cahoots with the PN. 

“He never had contact with the PN and it was not the judge who leaked the sworn declaration to the press. The insinuation that the letter was written and leaked to coincide with his nomination by the PN is wrong; very wrong. Mintoff’s name was suggested well before the letter was written,” the source said. 

They went on to say that Mintoff has insisted with people close to him that he never asked to meet Prime Minister Robert Abela and was surprised the meeting was called in the first place. 

“It was the prime minister who asked for the February meeting and Mintoff attended hopeful that it was a courtesy meeting for the prime minister to simply inform him that he was government’s nominee for chief justice,” the source said. 

They added that Mintoff was surprised when in the meeting he was told certain things that did not concern him such as Abela’s fear that the party grass roots would oppose any nomination coming from the PN. 

“Mintoff cannot understand why Robert Abela thought the meeting went well since he had made it clear that partisan concerns should not come in the way of nominating the chief justice,” the source added.