The Chief Justice of Malta is the
primus inter pares of the members of the
Maltese judiciary and leads the business of the Superior Courts of
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
.
Appointment
The Chief Justice is appointed by the
President of Malta
The president of Malta ( mt, President ta' Malta) is the constitutional head of state of Malta. The President is indirectly elected by the House of Representatives of Malta, which appoints the president for a five-year term and requires them to ...
by a two-thirds resolution of the
House of Representatives of Malta
The Parliament of Malta ( mt, Il-Parlament ta' Malta) is the constitutional Legislature, legislative body in Malta, located in Valletta. The parliament is Unicameralism, unicameral, with a democratically elected House of Representatives and the ...
.
The Judicial Appointments Committee, which is in charge of recommending the appointment of the members of the judiciary, is not consulted on the appointment of the Chief Justice. This to ensure that the outgoing Chief Justice would not have a say on the choice of his/her successor.
[{{Cite web, url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2017-12-30/local-news/New-Chief-Justice-to-be-appointed-by-government-in-consultation-with-the-Opposition-6736183072, title = New Chief Justice to be appointed by government 'in consultation with the opposition' - the Malta Independent]
Duties
Where more than one judge is assigned to sit ordinarily in a court, or in a chamber or section of the court, the distribution of duties in general between the judges appertains to the Chief Justice.
By virtue of his office, the Chief Justice of Malta is ''ex officio'':
*Deputy Chairman of the
Commission for the Administration of Justice of Malta.
*President of the Court of Appeal (Superior Jurisdiction)
*President of the Court of Criminal Appeal (Superior Jurisdiction)
*President of the Constitutional Court
The Chief Justice may designate one of the Magistrates sitting in the Inferior Courts as Senior Magistrate, who shall perform such duties and functions as may be assigned to his by the Chief Justice himself.
If the office of Chief Justice is vacant or if the Chief Justice is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office, then, until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office or until the Chief Justice has resumed those functions, as the case may be, those functions shall (except to such extent, if any, as other provision is made by law) be performed by such one of the other judges of the Superior Courts as may be designated in that behalf by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
See also
*
List of Chief Justices of Malta
References
Government of Malta
Malta, Chief Justice