Retired judge tops 3 pensions with an extra €13,000 as chairman

A 76-year-old former Judge and Labour MP is pocketing an extra €13,000 a year on top of three generous pensions he already receives, as chairman of the Embryo Protection Authority.

Former Judge Philip Sciberras, who retired from the Bench in 2010, is being paid €12,783 annually to act as chairman, according to the government Authority’s latest financial estimates.

The remuneration tops three other pensions Sciberras also receives from the State.

Apart from the national insurance pension available to all those who have paid monthly social security contributions during their working life, the former Judge is also being paid two other pensions, exclusively reserved for a small number of people, mainly former members of parliament or retired members of the judiciary.

As a former Judge, Sciberras is receiving an uncapped extra pension of some €23,000 a year, while as a former Labour member of parliament, he is also receiving an additional pension reserved for retired MPs, in his case reaching €7,000 a year.

The highest national insurance pension in Malta is capped at a maximum of €13,159. The overwhelming majority of Maltese pensioners receive less than €900 a month.

Sciberras represented the Labour Party in parliament between 1979 and 1987, including the turbulent legislature in which Labour governed for the full term even though the majority had voted for the PN in the 1981 general elections.

The former Judge is also regularly handpicked by the government to conduct inquiries when needed, further boosting his income from the State.

One inquiry led by Sciberras was on the alleged ‘poor’ quality of concrete used at Mater Dei Hospital, a story aggressively pushed by Labour in Opposition. Sciberras was appointed to lead the inquiry soon after the party was elected in 2013.

Sciberras did not reply to questions sent.