It’s incredible the lore and and information you can find in Valletta if you stay long enough to listen to the stories. I may need to catch up on rumours, scandals, and strange happenings because, apparently, in Malta, it’s considered normal for members of the judiciary to sleep with criminal lawyers, literally speaking.
Even more surprising is that one of Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras’ daughters works for Arthur Azzopardi’s law firm, with Azzopardi being the current partner of the magistrate. There have been instances where the magistrate was asked to recuse herself from cases involving Arthur Azzopardi as a lawyer. However, this does not put any potential conflicts of interest at rest. Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras would have to avoid listening to all cases where Arthur Azzopardi’s law-firm is involved. This is already getting messy and complicated.
Lawyers in Malta often hand work to each other and in intensive but unofficial partnership collaborations that make their work even more efficient. For example. I have two separate lawyers, each with their own distinct law firm. Both are working closely together on most of my court cases, primarily in their capacities as individual lawyers rather than as representatives of their respective firms. I chose them based on their individual merits. Each lawyer will cover for the other as needed, and they manage my cases based on their availability.
Arthur Azzopardi has a network of unofficial partner lawyers who cover for each other in certain cases and collaborate closely. He is also no stranger to controversy and scandal himself and previously he was reported to have been on the receiving end of information about ongoing police investigations – this story was published before I was aware of his relationship with the Magistrate. Probably he is mostly remembered for being the lawyer of Il-Koฤงฤงu (Vince Muscat), one of the hitmen who killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, before he eventually fell-out with him, and of course for that photo of him covering his face in shame during a Masonic Lodge meeting.
Personally, I don’t find it acceptable that the judiciary is in bed with criminal lawyers. It’s basically impossible to detect a conflict of interest when Maltese lawyers are looking for each other in each other’s cases. Ideally, the judiciary should be completely distinct and separate from the class of lawyers whose cases it adjudicates, but I’m sure some will accuse me of demanding too much.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply