Reprimanded Judge gets sports integrity job

Of all the current recently-retired judges and magistrates, the government has chosen the only one to have been found in breach of the judiciary’s code of ethics to chair the Authority for the Integrity of Maltese Sport.

Criticising Education Minister Clifton Grima’s appointment of retired Judge Antonio Mizzi, sports organisation officials have expressed their disappointment over the choice, dubbing it as “partisan and not in the interest of sports”.

Mizzi, the husband of former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, is a controversial choice for the post because of the baggage he carries.

Apart from having run the Malta Basketball Association (MBA) for years, which is said to give him a natural bias toward this sport over others, sporting officials speaking with The Shift point to the admonishment he received from the Commission for the Administration of Justice over his insistence on remaining at the basketball organisation while also serving as a magistrate.

The code of ethics precludes members of the judiciary from occupying other positions, including positions in sports organisations. Even though the judiciary’s watchdog repeatedly asked Mizzi to step down, he insisted on retaining the MBA position.

While Mizzi’s intransigence had for some time held him back from being made a Judge, even boycotted from State functions, he was promoted to the superior courts when the Labour Party was elected in 2013.

“We really cannot understand the message the government is trying to give by appointing a retired Judge with such a track record to head an integrity organisation,” one senior official from a major sports organisation told The Shift.

Through this latest appointment, the retired Judge, already on a privileged pension as a former member of the judiciary, will see his income boosted by another €20,000 a year.

On top of that, upon Mizzi’s retirement in 2019, the government appointed him Law Commissioner, replacing former Nationalist Party rebel MP Franco Debono.

The job, which also comes with an annual remuneration of some €30,000, a fully-paid car and driver, as well as several other perks, is apparently related to the updating of laws. However, no one knows precisely what the Commission produces as the office works in complete secrecy and does not even publish an annual report.

Mizzi’s wife, the former Labour MEP, has also been put on the gravy train after retiring from politics in 2019.

Apart from being appointed a non-resident ambassador for Norway and Sweden, Marlene Mizzi is currently a member of various government boards, including Malita Investments and Malta Air Travel Ltd.

Even the couple’s daughter, Alexandra, who runs her mother’s private business, has a government appointment as secretary of Film Finance Malta Ltd, which is responsible for the disbursement of funds to the film industry. The controversial Film Commissioner Johann Grech also sits on the board.