Gonzi presents impeachment motion, Farrugia Sacco – ‘I will not resign’

Updated at 1pm with comments by Lino Farrugia Sacco.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has presented Speaker of the House Michael Frendo with two impeachment motions against Judges Ray Pace and Lino Farrugia Sacco.

The motions will be forwarded to the Commission for the Administration of Justice, which is presided by the President of the Republic, to issue its recommendations to the Speaker on whether the impeachment should proceed.

Gonzi, who did not take questions from the press, said he is ready to convene Parliament even after its dissolution on 7 January if the Commission's recommendations merit a debate in the House.

Labour has already said it will back the impeachment of Pace, charged with taking bribes on a request by alleged drug barons to convince another judge to extend a rival baron's prison sentence on appeal.

But the Opposition will wait for the CAJ's current inquiry into Farrugia's Sacco implication at having entertained a request by undercover journalists as to how to skirt the rules for ticket sales for the Sochi winter Olympics.

The prime minister said Farrugia Sacco had already been directed by the CAJ back in 2007 to step down from his role as president of the Malta Olympic Committee because he was in breach of the code of ethics.

Earlier this month Farrugia Sacco was rapped by the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission for entertaining a possible breach of ticket resale rules.

"I need to express my disappointment and concern about the events affecting the judiciary at the present time... these are situations of a grave nature that have led to the respect and honour of the judiciary, and the trust in it to be rocked. These are situations that do not do justice to the members of the judiciary who carry out their duties with integrity and seriousness."

"I already said that I expected their resignations yesterday, and that is why I have presented the two impeachment motions. If they hand in their resignations, the procedures will stop."

In comments to MaltaToday, Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco said he would not resign his post as judge, but said that he will consider his post as MOC president.

"My case has got nothing to do with the one implicating Judge Pace, but I will not comment on the case because I hear such cases... the accusations have got nothing to do with each other."

Farrugia Sacco also insisted that the undercover video implicating him in the Olympics case is "fabricated".

"There is nothing illegal in my case, and nowhere in the IOC's ethics decision did the words 'corruption', 'scandal', or 'black market' feature."

On his part, Pace's defence counsel Stefan Filletti told this newspaper he was not authorised to comment on his client's behalf as to whether he would resign.

The motions must be investigated by the Commission for the Administration of Justice, before being forwarded back to the Speaker with the basis for impeachment.

The Constitution decrees that if between a dissolution of Parliament and the next ensuing general election "an emergency arises of such a nature that, in the opinion of the Prime Minister it is necessary to recall Parliament, the President may by proclamation summon the Parliament that has been dissolved to meet, and that Parliament shall thereupon be deemed... not to have been dissolved but shall be deemed to be dissolved on the date on which the polls are concluded in the next ensuing general election."

In a reaction, Labour said it will be up to the Speaker to pass on the motions to the Commission for investigation and recommendation. "As the Prime Minister himself was reported as saying, the two cases are distinct. We will support the impeachment of Ray Pace. In the case of Farrugia Sacco, we will wait for the Commission's recommendations."

The Cabinet today held an emergency meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the possible impeachment of judges Ray Pace and Lino Farrugia Sacco. The meeting came in the wake of statements by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi that he would be willing to reconvene parliament early to move impeachment motions if the judges do not resign.

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat reacted by backing the impeachment of Judge Ray Pace, who was taken to court on Thursday and is being held in preventive custody at the forensic unit.

In Judge Farrugia Sacco's case, Muscat said Labour will follow the recommendations of the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

The meeting follows a difficult week for the judiciary, as last week's issue concerning Lino Farrugia's Sacco's implication in an investigation into the resale of tickets for the Winter Olympics was followed by a series of arraignments concerning bribery and trading of influence which featured Judge Ray Race prominently.

Impeachment motions are considered by the Commission for the Administration of Justice before being debated and voted on in Parliament. Impeachment motion require the backing of two-thirds of the members of the House to be considered approved.