Commission for Administration of Justice is not investigating magistrate

The Commission for the Administration of Justice is not investigating Magistrate Audrey Demicoli over claims of political bias, the government has said.

In a statement on media reports first broadcast by TVM news, the Commission said that although the allegations raised by former Labour deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Anglu Farrugia were not the subject of an investigation, the Commission had inquired about the allegations.

"The fact that the Commission informs itself and requests explanations regarding what may be alleged in no way means that the Commission is investigating a member of the judiciary.

"It is the Commission's duty to follow whatever concerns members of the legal profession, both lawyers and members of the judiciary, and to take such appropriate steps, where the case so requires, in accordance with its functions and powers."

It was believed that the investigation was initiated on 17 December, as reported by PBS, the day after Farrugia hinted that Magistrate Audrey Demicoli might have acquitted a man accused of corrupt practices during the 2008 elections, because her father Saviour Demicoli was a some-time Nationalist Party activist.

Farrugia himself was contacted by the CAJ on 20 December, the day Muscat announced the resignation of Farrugia over comments made on Sunday during a Labour political rally in Rabat.

Farrugia's resignation was announced by Muscat just four days after the comments he passed on Magistrate Demicoli, a day after a disastrous TV encounter with PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil on Xarabank.

Farrugia claimed Demicoli should have never presided over the case of Pierre Bartolo, who was later found guilty on appeal of having threatened his employees not to vote Labour under pain of losing their job.

The comments cost him his job, but the Nationalist Party was keen on insisting that the reason for the resignation was Farrugia's encounter with Simon Busuttil. Muscat has denied any link.

"To me such comments are out of place, and should be made because they undermine an important pillar of our democracy. During the meeting I had with Farrugia, I requested his resignation, which Farrugia accepted to hand in out of his loyalty to the party," Muscat said of Farrugia's comments on the magistrate.

The judiciary is undergoing renewed pressure: Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco is being investigated by the CAJ after the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission declared that as president of the Malta Olympic Committee, Farrugia Sacco had entertained a request by undercover journalists as to who to skirt Olympic ticket selling rules; while former judge Raymond Pace has been charged in court with bribery.