Judge’s impeachment hearings will continue

The judiciary watchdog has decided to forge ahead with impeachment hearings against Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, in spite of lawyers’ arguments that the motion filed against him had effectively expired. The case before the Commission for the Administration of Justice was triggered by a motion of impeachment filed in December by the former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, after the judge, who at the time headed the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC), became embroiled in a controversy over the sale of tickets for the London Olympics. After the general election, lawyers questioned whether the impeachment hearings stood, given the parliamentary motion that triggered them would normally be considered to have expired since Parliament had been dissolved. However, conflicting legal advice was given to the Government on this point. Some lawyers argued that the motion stood on the basis of public interest while others were of the opinion that the motion was no different to any other so had therefore expired – and with it the impeachment process. The commission, however, deliberated the question in recent weeks and decided to proceed with the case, sources close to it told The Sunday Times of...