Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1093354
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 MARCH 2019 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "So it did not recommend promotion," a source told this newspaper. The committee that scru- tinises candidates for the ju- diciary is composed of the Ombudsman and the Auditor General, as well as the Chief Justice, Attorney General and the president of the Chamber of Advocates President. Until 2016, the Prime Min- ister was free to recommend any person to the President of Malta for judicial appoint- ment. With the introduction of the JAC, interested law- yers may express their inter- est at any moment, and the JAC vets them and includes suitable candidates in a per- manent register. When a va- cancy comes up, the Prime Minister is free to choose – for appointment as judge – any person from that regis- ter or from among the sitting magistrates. The JAC has regularly turned down requests for ap- pointments to the inferior courts from lawyers. Even when magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, sister to a La- bour minister, was cleared for promotion to judge, she was kept behind because sen- ior judges disagreed with her move to the superior courts. Unsurprisingly, she was made judge after the retirement of Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri. The creation of the JAC has been hailed as a move in the right direction, but the Coun- cil of Europe's Venice Com- mission insists that the Prime Minister should not have any influence in judiciary picks, and that the JAC rank its can- didates upon merit or clear criteria. As more members of the judiciary reach retirement age, which is mandatory at 65, critics feel that more 'red togas' will make the grade to even out the partisan distri- bution of the bench. Almost all of the recent ap- pointments, including those mandated by the JAC, includ- ed former Labour candidates or officials: Toni Abela was a former Labour deputy leader; Wenzu Mintoff a former La- bour Whip, candidate and party official; Joanne Vella Cuschieri a former candidate; Monika Vella a former Labour mayor; and Joseph Mifsud a former party official. Another lawyer tipped for promotion in this latest round will be Nadine Lia, the daughter-in-law of Labour Party counsel Pawlu Lia. The former European Court of Human Rights judge Gio- vanni Bonello has hit out at this trend, remarking that of the last 17 appointments to Malta's judiciary, 16 were all relatives of party politicians, or ministerial associates. Jus- tice Minister Owen Bonnici has said that under the up- coming judicial reform, the Prime Minister will no longer be appointing members to the bench, and a Judicial Ap- pointments Committee will instead be doing so. NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The airline will also register clear productivity gains after having hammered out new collective agreements with pilots, increased load factors, and upgraded its fleet to re- place older planes. News of Air Malta's im- proved performance offers some relief to the national airline, when in 2017 it ap- peared pilots and Air Malta management were set for collision over wage increases being linked to longer fly- ing hours. Mizzi had just as- sumed his new role as tourism minister when he replaced the entire board of directors and company chairman, and reintroduced flights that were cut from the airline's roster in a bid to consolidate profit- making routes only. The airline underwent an intensive restructuring process since being on the brink of bankruptcy in 2010, when government stepped in with State aid that had to be cleared by Brussels. The restructuring process, which involved downsizing the airline and cutting some of its routes, was supposed to turn the airline back to black within five years. The airline failed to do so. But in June 2017, the airline added new routes, increased the number of aircraft in operation and negotiated collective agree- ments with its workers. It also cut certain costs, such as free on-board meals. Air Malta profits NGOs, residents file further lawsuits against DB KARL AZZOPARDI TWO new lawsuits have been filed against the db Group pro- ject on the ex-ITS site in Pem- broke by residents, NGOs and three local councils. Legal expenses for the law- suits were covered thanks to a crowd-funding initiative which collected more than €26,000. The lawsuits seek "a trans- parent and sustainable reso- lution regarding a list of legal issues which have remained unresolved", the appellants said in a statement. The local councils involved in the lawsuit are those of Pembroke, St Julian's, and Swieqi. They were joined by Moviment Graffitti, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Din l-Art Helwa and Friends of the Earth Malta as well as nine individu- al residents. "Whilst the Tribunal ruled in the appellants' favour on a number of important points, it also rejected a number of valid arguments which are crucial to the health and wellbeing of the community and the infra- structure's capacity to support intensive development of this sort," Graffitti said. The appellants are insisting that the issuing of the permit by the Planning Authority went against Maltese law since the process did not follow the principle of natural justice and relevant legal procedures. "We are committed to con- tinue fighting this unsustain- able and over-intensive project as long as necessary. The at- titude of 'Build first and cope with the fall-out later' must stop." PM's recommendation for judge turned down by committee Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace has not been recommended for promotion to judge by the judicial appointments committee