Retiring Judge Philip Sciberras calls for voluntary extension in judiciary's retirement age

Court of Appeals judge Philip Sciberras, who retired today from the judiciary, said that judges should be allowed to serve on the bench well after pensionable age.

Addressing a packed Hall 22, which is usually used for criminal trials, Mr Justice Sciberras said: “May I join the crowd of those who in the last few months have expressed their opinion about the retirement age of the judiciary.

“From here I also strongly appeal to the Government to consider its inflexible decision that it has adopted and grants that a judge might serve even after he reaches the statutory age of 65 years,” he insisted.

Judge Sciberras proposed that this extension, if granted, “should be optional for the particular judge, since the exercise of his functions depends of special factors, for instance, his state of health.

“I am sure that that the judge on his own will realise when he should stop working,” Judge Sciberras insisted.

Judge Sciberras reiterated similar calls on the raising of the retirement age made by outgoing Chief Justice Vincent de Gaetano and retiring judges Carmel Agius and Joseph Galea Debono.

The government has already stated there are no plans of rising the retirement age of judges. In 2007, the retirement age for the judiciary was revised from 60 to 65.

Sciberras recalled how when he had been sworn in as a judge on 9 October 2002, “a few months after the event that shook from its foundations the judiciary".

“Hence you can understand the kind of baptism of fire that I faced,” he added.

Sciberras explained how he did not feel disheartened at the new challenge since “I thought that I was able to, with my little contribution, together with the majority of other efficient judges, give my contribution so that the lost faith might be regained”.

He warned that faith in the judiciary might not only be lost “with an act of corruption or favouritism, which in themselves are crimes, but also with laziness, negligence and insensitivity, which are also grave sins”.

Sciberras compared the judiciary to a religious order “where those who procrastinate and are not a good example lead the faithful to lose their faith”.

He explained how during his tenure in office, he avoided “as much as possible delays in judgements, and this without “Sturm und Drang” or excessive pressure from lawyers”.

The retiring judge explained how over the past few years, the Court of Appeal in its minor jurisdiction had been saddled with various appeals from special tribunals and boards, such as VAT, Eco-Contribution, Income Tax, the Financial Services Act, The Telecommunications Act, the Data Protection Act, Patents, education and tourism.

Sciberras delivered 67 judgements today, his final day of work, totalling 2,529 judgements, totalling 316 sentences a year. He left only one pending case.

“I don’t think that regarding the Court that I presided can a Justice Parliamentary Secretary, now Minister, state, as he had said during an interview with The Times on 28 January 2005, that something’s rotten in the State of Denmark”, he insisted.

On his part, Chamber of Advocates’ President Andrew Borg Cardona highlighted the retiring judge’s efficiency, seriousness and love for the law”

Cardona revealed how when he had been Air Malta counsel, he needed to discuss some legal point with Judge Sciberras. “When I told him that I would be coming on Sunday, he said: ‘Fine’.

“There are few lawyers who show this dedication to the profession as he has shown,” Cardona insisted.

Sciberras is expected to go back to work in his family's legal firm.