Retired judge handed €72,000 salary and chauffeur to monitor government advertising

Retired judge Grazio Mercieca has secured a €72,000 annual salary, a fully expensed official car with a driver and a €1,800 communications allowance to oversee government advertising, months after leaving the bench with entitlement to Malta’s privileged judicial pension scheme.

His appointment letter, obtained by The Shift following a Freedom of Information request, also provides public-service reimbursements and dispenses with probation. The guaranteed cash package totals €73,800 annually for seven years, before the uncosted chauffeur-driven car and expenses. The document does not disclose his pension payments or whether these are affected by his new appointment.

Mercieca ‘retired’ in November 2025 when he reached 68.

Malta’s judicial pension arrangements provide a separate service pension, described in previous reporting as uncapped and linked to judicial basic salaries. His individual entitlement and any adjustment arising from the new appointment remain unverified.

The former judge spent years as president of Labour’s Gozo section before becoming chief adviser to minister Anton Refalo in 2013. He subsequently became a magistrate in 2016 and judge in 2018. His assignment to cases reviewing government decisions prompted concerns among lawyers about his political background.

His appointment adds to a succession of public roles awarded to retired members of the judiciary with Labour connections.

Senior legal sources told The Shift that these appointments are also raising questions about judicial independence even before retirement.

The European Court of Human Rights identifies safeguards against outside pressure and the appearance of independence as relevant considerations. The Council of Europe also recommends remuneration sufficient to shield judges from inducements aimed at influencing their decisions.

Former Labour deputy leader Toni Abela became the first Commissioner for Standards of the Judiciary in December 2025, following his retirement that June. His appointment involved the Commission for the Administration of Justice. The Shift reported in February that his remuneration contract remained undisclosed.

Former chief justice Joseph Azzopardi, previously a Labour election candidate, became Commissioner for Standards in Public Life in March 2023 after legislation enabled appointment by a simple parliamentary majority following deadlock. Azzopardi has rejected suggestions that his political past compromised his suitability.

Antonio Mizzi, husband of former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, became Commissioner for Laws after retiring in 2018 and has accumulated a raft of public appointments.

Previous PN administrations have also appointed former members of the Judiciary for well-paid appointments, including former Chief Justice Joseph Said Pullicino and others.

Grazio Mercieca’s office must independently monitor and publish information about state advertising expenditure under Malta’s implementation of the European Media Freedom Act.

The law requires independence and prohibits other public offices or professional activities. However, appointment rests with the President on the prime minister’s advice after opposition consultation; it requires no open competition.

The arrangement places scrutiny of government advertising in the hands of a former government adviser, making transparent appointment procedures and demonstrable independence particularly consequential.