Court yet to decide over recusal request by judge facing impeachment

A judicial decision over whether two members on the judiciary's watchdog should abstain from the impeachment case against Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco, will be handed down on 23 October.

The case is being heard in the court of Judge Anna Felice, who has to decide whether retired judge Victor Caruana Colombo and Reuben Balzan, the president of the Chamber of Advocates, should recuse themselves from the Commission for the Administration of Justice's evaluation of the impeachment motion.

The motion was presented in the House of Representatives by former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi after Farrugia Sacco refused to resign from the bench after being investigated by the International Olympic Committee over his presence during a newspaper sting into the alleged irregular sale of Olympic Games tickets to a tout.

Farrugia Sacco was already censored by the Commission in 2007 over his refusal to resign from the Malta Olympic Committee presidency, and is claiming that it cannot judge him again.

Prof Ian Refalo, who is appearing for the Commission, said that just because Farrugia Sacco had been censored in 2007, this did not mean that he could not be censored again later on. The commission, he said, would be judging on his behaviour now and not in 2007.

Defence lawyer Alex Sciberras said Farrugia Sacco's simply wanted the replacement of two commission members who had formed part of the decision taken against him back in 2007. "It is in the interest of justice that any doubts are removed. The members' replacement would ensure a fair trial and peace of mind," Sciberras said.