Joseph Azzopardi (born 8 April 1955 in

Senglea Senglea ( ), also known by its title Città Invicta (or Civitas Invicta), is a fortified city in the Port Region of Malta. It is one of the Three Cities in the Grand Harbour area, the other two being Cospicua and Vittoriosa, and has a popu ...

) is Commissioner for Standards in Public Life in Malta. He was also

Chief Justice of Malta 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. Appointment The chief justice is appointed by the president of Malta by a two-thirds resoluti ...

from 2018 till 2020.

Biography

Graduating as Notary Public from the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association, ...

in 1978 and as Doctor of Laws in 1979, Azzopardi was the first president of the Federation of Maltese Youth Organizations in 1980.[judiciarymalta.gov.mt/file.aspx?f=447 CV Azzopardi Since 1980 Azzopardi practiced as a private lawyer for 23 years, specialising mainly in Civil Law and Matrimonial Law, and consulting for among others Lohombus Corporation and the Malta Public Transport Authority. He was appointed director of the then Mid Med Bank from 1981 to 1987, and was a member of the Housing Authority Board from 1997 to 2003. He also served as a Commissioner of Justice from 1997 to 2003 and was Chairman of various disciplinary Boards including those at Maltacom and the Malta Freeport Corporation. Azzopardi served as a member of the Committee of the Chamber of Advocates from 1996 to 2000 and was then elected its President until 2003. As such, he was ''ex officio'' member of the

Commission for the Administration of Justice of Malta This Commission for the Administration of Justice of Malta is the national council of the judiciary of Malta. It is set up under the relevant provisions of the Constitution (art. 101A, last amended in 2016), and is chaired by the President of Ma ...

. On 23 May 2003, Azzopardi was appointed by Prime Minister

Eddie Fenech Adami Edoardo "Eddie" Fenech Adami (born 7 February 1934) is a Malta, Maltese and Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004. Subsequently, he was t ...

(PN) as Judge of the Superior Courts. He presided the Family Section of the Civil Courts. In April 2018, at 63, Azzopardi was appointed by Prime Minister

Joseph Muscat Joseph Muscat (born 22 January 1974) is a Maltese politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020 and leader of the Labour Party from 2008 to 2020. Muscat was first elected Prime Minister in March 2013 with 54.83 ...

(PL) as

. He was considered an uncontroversial choice. He retired at 65 on 8 April 2020. Azzopardi has also served as examiner in Civil Law in the Faculty of Laws of the

. He also once unsuccessfully contested a single general election as a Labour candidate. In October 2019, he used the occasion of the annual speech to lash out against journalists for asking compromising questions, saying that "it is easy to attack members of the judiciary because you know they can’t answer you". On 8 March 2023 Azzopardi was appointed Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, succeeding Dr George Marius Hyzler in this role. He is married and has a daughter.

References

Living people Chief justices of Malta 1955 births Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Maltese people 21st-century Maltese lawyers 20th-century judges 21st-century judges {{Malta-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References