Alberto Magri and Don Manuel are friends

Published: November 28, 2014 at 10:27am
Retired judge Alberto Magri

Retired judge Alberto Magri

Magistrate Consuelo Herrera

Magistrate Consuelo Herrera

Don Manuel

Don Manuel

I was more than a little surprised when Alberto Magri accepted to chair the three-retired-judge inquiry into the strange activities of Don Manuel and one of his drivers.

Alberto Magri and Don Manuel are friends and have been for years. Both Don Manuel and Alberto Magri are part of that whole Magistrate Herrera circle.

When Alberto Magri threw a 60th birthday party some time ago, Magistrate Herrera was there, inappropriately attired as usual, and sitting on some man’s lap. I believe it was Robert Musumeci, but at this rate of musical beds, I’m getting more than a little confused.




28 Comments Comment

  1. gn says:

    http://www.illum.com.mt/ahbarijiet/zekzik/39423/filmat_mudella_jinallilha_lqalziet_talbikini_waqt_passarella#.VHhAMWfwtMt

    Kif spiccat il-gazzetta ta’ Saviour Balzan u Roger de Giorgio, u kif spicca John Busuttil miskin.

  2. High Tea says:

    Tell it like it was, Daphne, as inappropriately attired doesn’t convey the full effect. At Alberto Magri’s 60th birthday party – and bear in mind that he hadn’t yet retired and was still a sitting judge – Magistrate Consuelo Herrera wore skintight red leather pants with a highly visible camel-hoof.

  3. ciccio says:

    The prime minister told Reno Bugeja that the three judges on his enquiry board have no political contact.

    Yeah, right, and he will resign if his power station plan fails by March 2015.

    Konvintissimu.

  4. Rita Camilleri says:

    Is she on her way to court dressed like that?

  5. Manuel says:

    Something tells me that when the result of the inquiry is published, Don Leli will be exonerated from his involvement in the mess he himself created.

    Then, as soon as the PN comes out shooting it’s guns, the Padrino di Kastilja will reply with a smirk that it’s the Opposition’s fault because it refused “the offer” of itself choosing the chairman of the Board.

    • ciccio says:

      Is there a possibility, small as it may be, that in the same way that Don Leli wrote that letter to the Leader of the Opposition, he will also write the report of the board of enquiry?

      “Ai termini tal-appuntament tal-prim ministru sabiex naghmlu indagni dwar Don Leli, qeghdin nivventilaw fil-pubbliku dana ir-rapport…”

  6. Drinks With Vince Micallef says:

    Aren’t there also Freemasonry issues, or am I mixing up my judges and magistrates and Police Ministers?

    • Tabatha White says:

      Which of these people were in the former party Monday Gozo group that Manwel frequented?

      That wasn’t the coke group, right?

    • Qeghdin Sew says:

      The elephant in the room.

    • ken il malti says:

      Don’t forget the higher-ups in the armed forces and the top business people and selected politicians and high Protestant ministers.

      These make up the usual golden bulk of Freemasons, with the the odd RC cardinal or two in most nations.

  7. pablo says:

    I suspect a foregone conclusion in favour of the status quo.

    No cop, no witness in his/her right mind will speak freely at the show inquiry. Sheehan will pay everybody’s bill for the concerted cover up and then be compensated by a cock up prosecution.

    Mallia cannot risk being “away” while this is all in motion.

  8. Candy says:

    Some people like to go out dancing; other people like us, we gotta work.

  9. Watcher of lies and prime ministerial lies says:

    Musical beds; I love that.

  10. chico says:

    Honestly Daphne, I’m surprised that you’re surprised that a judge is his friend.

    [Daphne – Did I sound surprised? I’m not. Not a judge, but that judge. Don’t tar all judges with the same brush.]

  11. wondering says:

    Never expected it from Judge Magri.

    • Drinks With Vince Micallef says:

      Oh dear, more fool you then. Look at the woman he’s just married. He could only have found her through those circles.

  12. Rosie says:

    Judge , now that’s a big word.

  13. sindikajra says:

    Judge Magri is a well-respected man. Going to parties and having many friends in different circles does not make a judge incapable of carrying out his duties. This is no easy job and 3 retired judges were appointed .. there aren’t that many to chose from !! Have some respect !!

    [Daphne – I have known Albert Magri since I was a child, way before he became a judge. It all depends on what sort of parties, and with whom. Multiple exclamation marks are banned on this website. I don’t think he should have accepted to chair a commission of inquiry into the behaviour of a man with whom he socialises. That is not an aberrant opinion. It is a normal one outside Berlusconi’s Italy and third world dictatorships. Whether he is independent or not is irrelevant. People have to know beyond doubt that he is, and the whole thing is unseemly.]

  14. rotarjan says:

    Mr Justice Magri would never let himself or the side down. The truth will prevail. . . . we trust.

    [Daphne – He is no longer Mr Justice Magri. He is retired.]

    • rotarjan says:

      So what would it be? Judge Emeritus Magri? I get confused these days what with everyone hanging on to their titles or indeed inventing ones.

      [Daphne – Alberto Magri. Just as you wouldn’t routinely write about me as Mrs Peter Caruana Galizia, so you wouldn’t routinely write about Alberto Magri in the formal way. Similarly, if somebody has a doctorate, it does not follow that you must always doggedly write that Dr before his or her name, as you wouldn’t doggedly write Mr or Mrs before anybody else’s.

      High Court judges are, in Britain, knighted on appointment and addressed, while in office, as ‘The Hon. Mr. Justice Smith’. When they retire, the ‘Mr Justice’ is dropped but the knighthood comes into play instead and they are addressed as The Hon. Sir Joe Smith. In the American knighthood-free system, retired judges are formally addressed or described as ‘The Hon’ in writing and the courteous form of address in speech is ‘Judge’.

      Our High Court judges are not knighted but the form of address we use is the British one: The Hon. Mr. Justice. It therefore follows that we should use the same form on retirement too, obviously minus the form of address for a knight. So it becomes The Hon. Alberto Magri. And when you are addressing him directly and don’t know him well enough to call him ‘Albert’, it’s ‘Judge’.

      Another point: when judges do not stay in retirement but take up paid work after leaving the bench, they lose this form of address because it is considered unseemly to enter employment or take up any form of work for financial gain while framed in the context of a retired judge, though it is perfectly acceptable to do so if you don’t take advantage of the situation by using the forms of address to which you are entitled as a retired judge.

      If you have any further questions about these matters, I’d be happy to answer them. I feel I am doing my bit in the uphill battle against Maltese people going round tacking ’emeritus’ onto things.]

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