Claim: Government only named its nominee for Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera to be the next chief justice because of a parliamentary vote forcing its hand.
Verdict: This is false. Scerri Herrera’s candidature was announced a week before a parliamentary vote was held.
In an episode of talk show Il-Każin, government MP Ramona Attard repeatedly argued that the government was forced to publicly name its nominee for Malta’s next chief justice because of parliamentary procedure.
The show featured a debate between Attard and her opposition counterpart Darren Carabott, with the two sparring over the ongoing stalemate over the selection of Malta’s next chief justice.
The term for the current chief justice, Mark Chetcuti, expired in early February, when Chetcuti reached statutory retirement age.
The government and opposition have been locked in discussions over his successor for several weeks, unable to agree on a successor.
The appointment of a chief justice requires two-thirds parliamentary approval.
The government’s first choice, judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera, failed to gain government’s approval when a vote was held in early February.
The news that Scerri Herrera was the government’s nominee was quickly met with resistance when it first emerged, with several members of the opposition arguing that any names discussed between the two parties should remain secret until an agreement was reached.
Attard and Carabott returned to the topic during the debate, with Attard rebutting the suggestion that Scerri Herrera’s nomination should have remained confidential, arguing that the government was forced to make its preferred candidate known when presenting a motion in parliament.
In essence, Attard argued that since the government was obliged to present a parliamentary motion for a vote on the incumbent chief justice’s successor, it was inevitable for Scerri Herrera’s name to emerge in public.
“The first name was made because after the speaker’s ruling [for a vote to be held], there was a need to present a motion including a name,” Attard said.
But, in reality, Scerri Herrera’s name emerged as the government’s preferred candidate long before the issue ever made it to parliament.
On January 28, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard told Times of Malta that Scerri Herrera was the government’s candidate and “the person who has been proposed by the prime minister and myself” for the role.
This was the first time her name had been publicly mentioned by either a government or opposition figure.
This was almost a full week before the government moved a motion, on February 3, for parliament to hold a vote on Scerri Herrera’s nomination the following day, the date of the incumbent Chief Justice’s mandatory retirement.
The motion would eventually be defeated the following day, sending plans for a new chief justice back to the drawing board.
Verdict
Scerri Herrera’s nomination was first announced by justice minister Jonathan Attard on January 28.
The government only moved a motion for a parliamentary vote on the matter on February 3, almost a full week later.
While Scerri Herrera’s name would have inevitably emerged at the time of the vote, the government chose to reveal her nomination several days prior to this.
