The Arturo Mercieca Court (1924-1940) : a legal analysis

Abstract

It is not common in the Maltese legal tradition to refer to any particular Court or a Court of Appeal by naming it after a presiding judge. In the case of a court of appellate jurisdiction, no Court of Appeal is styled by reference to the name of its Chief Justice. This is very dissimilar to the United States tradition where a Supreme Court is usually referred to by the name of its Chief Justice, such as the Burger Court or the Rehnquist Court. I felt, however, that an exception had to be made in the case of the Court of Appeal presided over by Sir Arturo Mercieca, a Maltese legal luminary who delivered a string of judgments on several aspects of Public Law before the Second World War which have remained landmark decisions in this area of law. [Excerpt from the Foreword by Prof. Tonio Borg]