President to abstain from judge's inquiry

The President of the Republic, George Abela, has declared he will not preside an investigation over Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco, by the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

Abela was previously legal counsel for Farrugia Sacco, in previous inquiries led by the Commission, which regulates the judiciary, into whether the judge was in breach of the judiciary's code of ethics.

Farrugia Sacco, who is president of the Malta Olympic Committee, is under investigation by the Commission on request of justice minister Chris Said after he was filmed by two undercover reporters from the Sunday Times of London, posing as ticket touts looking to sell London 2012 Olympics tickets on the black market.

Farrugia Sacco was filmed together with MOC secretary-general Joe Cassar, the latter suggesting how high mark-ups for the tickets could be "camouflaged" through "subtle" marketing techniques.

The International Olympic Committee is investigating the resale of tickets on the black market, although the MOC is not one of these. But the Sunday Times report suggests the Maltese officials may have been willing to have its tickets sold by agents outside its borders.

"The President of Malta has already informed the Commission for the Administration of Justice that he will abstain from the procedures since he was a lawyer for the said Judge before the same commission. That way, justice can be seen to be made and not only be made," a spokesperson for the Office of the President said.

Farrugia Sacco had been ordered by the Commission for the Administration of Justice to step down from MOC president, claiming his position as a members of the judiciary could be compromised or prejudiced, because of his potential involvement in public controversy with other sports or government entities.

The Commission's decision was also meted out to Magistrate Antonio Mizzi, who has since not sought re-election as president of the Malta Basketball Association for reasons unrelated to the Commission's stand.

Describing both MOC and MBA as "heavily dependent on commercial and government sponsorships" with potential for public controversy, the Commission was acting upon its newly introduced code of ethics for the judiciary members, ordering them to step down from the Olympic committee and MBA and to "regularise" their position.

The government had defended the Commission's ruling by ostracising the two judges and leaving them out from the official guest-list for national functions.

It was then Education Minister Louis Galea, as minister responsible for sports, who started off the whole controversy in 2005 when he called into question the position of the judges on the sports committee.

Both members were involved in a public row with Louis Galea when the MOC criticised sporting legislation which they claimed threatened its autonomy and the allocation of funding to sporting associations.

Responding to the criticism, Galea had said he could "not fail to bring to attention the conflict for a Judge or Magistrate who, wearing the cap of MOC president or media director, takes a position against an act of parliament in public circumstances outside the judicial process" - referring to both Farrugia Sacco and Mizzi.

Galea also added that the Chief Justice had already asked the two members to conform to the code of ethics, which he said prohibits the judiciary from "behaviour that endangers their impartiality or independence".