Justice Minister non-committal about requiring judiciary to declare assets

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici was non-committal about a proposal by the justice reform commission, which was later dropped, on a register of assets for judges and magistrates.

In contrast, shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi declared that the Opposition was in favour of more transparency and agreed, “in principle”, such a register should be in place.

The Times of Malta has reported that two magistrates were still listed by the Malta Financial Services Authority as acting as board secretaries to private companies and that some judges and magistrates held shares in private commercial entities. It resulted that one of the two magistrates had resigned as board secretary soon after his appointment to the Bench but his name still appeared on the MFSA website.

“The proposal for a register or declaration of assets of members of the judiciary was not included in the final Bonello report, on which the justice reform is ultimately based,” Dr Bonnici said when contacted by this newspaper.

“When presented with the opportunity to come up with proposals during the consultation process preceding the final Bonello report, the Opposition opted for silence and failed to make any proposals,” he...