Malta May End Up At The European Court Of Justice Over Its Judicial Appointments
Civil society NGO Repubblika has asked the European Commission to investigate whether Malta’s system of judicial appointments violates EU Law.
“Maltese law grants the Prime Minister unfettered discretion to appoint judges and magistrates to the judiciary without any form of judicial review, and such appointments are not subject to any limitations or objective criteria,” Repubblika said in a statement. “This is in breach of the EU Treaty, which forms the basis of EU law and sets out the general principles of the union.”
They made reference to the situation of Poland, in which the government has been accused of manoeuvres to undermine the independence of the Judiciary.
However, the government have since said that the courts did not reference the Poland case, and rejected any comparisons with the situation in Malta to that of Poland.
It also added that the courts did not make any request from the European Commission to investigate the case.
Following a complaint by the European Commission, the European Court of Justice in June ruled that a decision by Poland to lower the retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court breaches the principle of the irremovability of judges and of judicial independence.
Repubblika has warned that the situation in Malta “is even wider, even more unfettered, even more nebulous and even more abused than that prevailing in Poland.
“The independence of the judiciary in Malta is truly at risk,” it said.
The government in 2016 revamped the way members of the judiciary are appointed to the bench, setting up a judiciary appointments committee to scrutinise applicants before making recommendations to the Prime Minister.
However, Repubblika warned that the committee’s recommendations are consultative in nature and that the Prime Minister isn’t legally obliged to accept them.
Additionally, it warned the Constitution empowers the Prime Minister to promote magistrates to the rank of judges, to unilaterally appoint the Chief Justice and to appoint retired judges to public office, such as to head public institutions.
In a statement, the government said that Repubblika’s demands went against human rights and European law.
It added that the constitutional court turned down Repubblika’s request to block the appointments of judges and magistrates and that there was any relation to a European Commission case against Poland.
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