The European Court of Human Rights case law and its impact on parliamentary removal of a judge in Malta : turning over a new leaf?

Abstract

This article analyses the case law of the European Court of Human Rights relating to Parliamentary removal of a judge. The Court’s earlier approach did not extend the right to a fair trial to judicial removal motions before the Maltese unicameral House of Representatives. The Court’s latest case law has reversed its earlier interpretation with all the attendant consequential implications brought about for Malta which now has to amend its Constitution on the subject. This novel landmark interpretation implies that should Parliament attempt to remove a judge, that constitutional procedure will fall foul of the right to a fair trial.