He’s going to make it to his official retirement in August without being impeached
The prime minister has said that he will not move to impeach Judge Farrugia Sacco, who has had all cases withdrawn from him by the Chief Justice, who sits on the commission which has recommended his impeachment, before Farrugia Sacco “exhausts all legal avenues in his defence”.
It looks to most of us out here that he has long since exhausted them and that the issue is not a legalistic one, but one of credibility and of public trust in our judges and their behaviour. On that basis alone, he should have resigned before there was any talk of impeachment.
The fact that he has not resigned before being impeached – resignation is so much less awful and permanent a blemish than impeachment, as Noel Arrigo and Patrick Vella knew (another judge took a terrible and tragic way out) – means that Farrugia Sacco is confident of Muscat’s protection until it’s all over and he gets away with it in August.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140606/local/updated-government-appeals-for-maturity-as-pn-calls-on-pm-to-take-immediate-action-on-judges-impeachment-motion.522248
Giovanni Bonello gave up long ago and turned to writing about local history.
Oh well, long live Justice.
You mean “Long live the LAW as a poor substitute for justice.
And also being the “Rich Guy” in the game of Monopoly.
Yes, splendid moustache and all, but it annoys me that probably the only legal professional with the brain power to take on my country’s many injustices has chosen to apply his intelligence to erudition. I know he wants to be seen as super partes, but quite frankly it’s ridiculous.
As far as I’m concerned this is far worse than his so-called “hooligans abroad”. They committed their crimes in the heat of battle. Here we are witnessing the cool, calculated shafting of an entire nation. And no one will speak up.
I have been informed that Giovanni Bonello did criticise the government’s handling of the Farrugia Sacco case.
Here’s one example:
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-30/news/farrugia-sacco-impeachmentcould-have-been-revived-giovanni-bonello-3824025600/
And especially this: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140302/local/Judiciary-untouchable-says-Giovanni-Bonello.508806
I would have said the very same thing in less elliptical language, but then I am not a member of the legal profession.
In any case, I apologise if somehow I made it seem like Giovanni Bonello is colluding in this travesty of justice. I knew he wasn’t.
Ovvja!!
The protector of wrongdoers, aka the prime minister of Malta.
“Dak li nweghdu, inwettquh…”
Alla biss jaf x’wieghed u x’ghadu jwieghed.
Pardon my ignorance, does an impeachment affect Farrugia Sacco’s pension? I ask, because as with most things (see Bondi) is usually boils down to shillings and pence.
[Daphne – Yes.]
Daphne
I do not believe you are correct. Judges and magistrates appointed after the great pensions reforms in the 1970s only receive the normal social security pension, like anyone else. This cannot be forfeited in case of misbehavior. Farrugia Sacco does not want to be the first judge dismissed from office for misbehavior since Independence.
[Daphne – Yes, you are right.]
Well we all knew that was the intention for procrastination.
What an awful and unpromising scenario for all of us, unless we are PL supporters. Crime is no crime if you support Joseph Muscat and his bandwagon.
May I strongly advise the Minister of Justice, Owen Bonnici, to stop even trying to launch the much promised and awaited legal reform – given the prevailing circumstances, it’s just a bad dream.
Daphne, do you think it’s time that we start using the more direct term ‘removal’ instead of impeachment?
Back in February, Raymond Mangion, professor of legal history and methodology, wrote a credible article for Times of Malta arguing that the term impeachment ‘is alien to Maltese constitutional law’.
I tend to agree. I think we use the term ‘impeachment’ because in Malta, we love terms which obfuscate what is really happening and make bad things sound nicer, vide banding instead of streaming. Obviously, Times of Malta, which is a prime obfuscater, ignored the advice printed in its own paper.
Impeachment doesn’t necessarily lead to removal. An impeachment procedure decides whether there are enough grounds for removal to be considered, which is a whole different process altogether. Bill Clinton was infamously impeached but he was never removed from office. In the United Kingdom, it is also a two stage procedure.
In Malta, parliament only follows one procedure and it instantly leads to removal. This means that we skip the impeachment bit and move directly to the removal part.
Joseph Muscat is not allowing parliament to vote on the removal of Farrugia Sacco and not his impeachment.
This is Raymond Mangion’s article:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140203/opinion/Impeachment-or-removal-.505264
I blame the Commission for taking several months to take a decision that he should be impeached. Shame on the commission and Muscat.
As if this was ever a surprise!
This part of our society is truly untouchable, unless their greed has left an indelible mark so much, that parliament hasn’t been left any other choice, or rather, the courts’ brotherhood that they would have betrayed.