PN demands prime minister’s ‘immediate’ response to sitting judge’s accusations

In the latest twist in the public showdown between sitting Judge Wenzu Mintoff and Prime Minister Robert Abela, Nationalist Party Leader Alex Borg held a live press conference to demand an “immediate” response to Mintoff’s accusations that Abela had directly interfered in his work as a member of the judiciary and that the Prime Minister was “compromised” and unable to adequately decide who to nominate for the post of Chief Justice.

After this morning’s explosive headlines, based on a leaked letter Mintoff sent to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, the Office of the Prime Minister has not issued any official statements. Labour Party media have also failed to acknowledge the story.

Stating that the Prime Minister must immediately inform the nation about the government’s position on the Judge’s letter, Opposition Leader Alex Borg described the situation as “unprecedented”.

“The Prime Minister must answer the extremely serious accusations made by Judge Wenzu Mintoff, including the interference in decisions made by Magistrates and Judges. No Prime Minister should ever interfere in what the courts do. The Prime Minister has a lot to answer for, and the Maltese and Gozitan people are expecting those answers,” Borg said.

In his letter, the Judge, who candidly talks about his aspirations to be nominated for the role of Chief Justice and effectively admits to an ethical breach by liberally talking about private conversations between himself and the executive branch of the state, slams the Prime Minister for turning the process of nominating the next Chief Justice into a partisan issue (Mintoff, a former Labour MP, was nominated for the Chief Justice post by the PN).

The Judge further accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of admitting that he did not wish to nominate him as Chief Justice because it was the Opposition that nominated him. Mintoff also accused Abela of being explicitly opposed to his nomination due to past skirmishes in court in which the Judge accused Abela of threatening one of his staff members.

“The Prime Minister must answer whether he used bullying tactics with the Judge during a case. He must answer whether, as alleged, he was thinking more about his income rather than justice. He must also explain the real reasons, which Mintoff says were the reasons for his refusal to choose him as Chief Justice,” Borg said.

“This is real proof of the fact that the Prime Minister has turned the nomination of the Chief Justice into a political football,” he added.

Judge Mintoff’s letter also excoriated the Prime Minister for allegedly telling him that he wanted to defer the nomination of the next Chief Justice until after the general elections, due to the “not serene” political climate surrounding the nomination.

This clash between a sitting Judge and the Prime Minister is unprecedented in Malta’s history, though hardly surprising given the Prime Minister’s past attacks on individual members of the judiciary during flashpoints such as the 2024 MEP elections and the publication of the hospitals heist inquiry.

Mintoff is the third sitting Judge who was named as a potential candidate for the role of Chief Justice.

The government’s first pick, Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera, was voted down by the Opposition in Parliament. The government’s second pick, Judge Miriam Hayman, has not been subjected to a vote in Parliament.