New Chief Justice shuns reception and gets down to work

The new Chief Justice has sent out an unambiguous message about his intention to tackle the spiraling workload of the superior Court of Appeal in his inaugural sitting.

In a very unusual move, after Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi delivered the customary inaugural speech, he started off hearing cases from his scheduled list of sittings.

“Since there is so much work to be done, we cannot waste time,” declared the Chief Justice, dispensing with the usual celebratory reception and instead getting straight to work.

Azzopardi made reference to the ever-growing caseload before the superior court of appeal, which he attributed this to various factors, including the increasing number of judgments delivered by the First Hall, Civil Court as well as the fact that constitutional cases were increasingly common.

The number of fast-track cases ending up before the court of appeal, had also shot up, Azzopardi pointed out, mentioning family cases in particular which, by nature, needed to be handled as fast as possible.

Other cases involving massive government contracts and arbitration also fell under the fast-track list the Chief Justice said. This meant that the backlog continued to grow in spite of the record number of judgments handed down by the court of appeal year on year.

The new Chief Justice urged lawyers and legal procurators to avoid causing unnecessary delays, such as when notices of summons to parties took an excessively long time to be issued and served.

Addressing Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and other parliamentarians present at the ceremony, the Chief Justice appealed to them to see to the enactment of any possible legal amendments dealing with the courts’ workload.

Describing himself ‘humbled’ by his new post, Chief Justice Azzopardi thanked his family colleagues and staff who had supported him along the way and vowed to do his utmost in the few years he had left before reaching retirement age.

Read also: New Chief Justice sworn in

In his speech opening the ceremony, Chamber of Advocates President George Hyzler congratulated his Azzopardi - a former university colleague of his - on his new post.

Praising the ‘serene and persuasive style’ which the Chief Justice had been known for, Hyzler appealed to the new Chief Justice to address the problem of delays before the superior court of appeal. 

Turning to the need for stricter disciplinary procedures for advocates, Dr Hyzler stressed the need for a law to regulate the legal profession, calling it “a lacuna in our system,” which so far the Government has failed to address.

In modern society, which was marred by an attitude of “anything goes”, the Chamber would continue to speak out as it did recently when two candidates for an Advocates warrant were found to possess a tainted criminal record, he said.