Yesterday in Parliament, the Opposition and Nationalist Party accused the Labour government of manipulating parliamentary procedure to rush constitutional amendments without the required two-thirds approval from parliament. The amendments concern the introduction of a Commissioner for Justice that will oversee the conduct of the Judiciary.
You can listen to yesterday’s parliamentary session here.
The idea of a judicial watchdog is not aversive to an independent and functioning judiciary, and on the contrary can uplift standards. On the other hand, this concept is often abused by authoritarian governments, and we all know very well that this Labour government has attacked Magistrates conducting inquiries on Labour Party politicians.
The Committee for the Administration of Justice will be tasked to appoint the Commissioner for Justice. This committee has a representative of the government (Pawlu Lia) and a representative from the Opposition (Vicne Psaila).
The Labour government has rushed these amendments without any public discussion and the way it forced these amendments without a two-thirds majority does not bode well for our constitutional rights. I hope that some legal experts can clarify what has happened.
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