In the recent parliamentary vote on the appointment of Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera as Chief Justice, the extremist faction in the Opposition dragged enough deputies along to block the motion. It failed to reach the required two-thirds majority. Fair enough — politics is brutal. But one man stood out for his utter lack of shame: Shadow Minister for Justice Joe Giglio.
While others might have had the decency to stay away or abstain, Giglio marched in and voted against her. He didn’t even have the minimal courtesy to keep his hands clean. Chris Said, to his credit, missed the vote entirely – perhaps he realised the boat had sailed and chose not to stain himself with this particular act of political theatre.
Giglio? No such restraint.
For twenty years, Giglio was an employee in the Herrera family legal office. When he graduated and entered the profession, it was the Herrera family — Dr. Jose Herrera, Consuelo’s brother who gave him a platform, experience, and the foundation of his entire career. Without him, Joe Giglio would have been a nobody. A young lawyer among many, with no name, no network, and no trajectory.
He built his reputation on the back of that office. He worked side by side with the very people he later turned on. And when he eventually left, what happened? The man who once enjoyed the stability of a respected family firm became a professional wanderer, jumping from one office to another, roughly six changes by some counts, never quite settling, never quite replicating the solid base the Herreras had provided.
Today, his practice appears to rely heavily on his wife and children working alongside him. The independent, successful lawyer image has faded into something far more precarious. And yet, with a face smeared in mud and zero sense of gratitude or decency, this is the man who voted against Consuelo Scerri Herrera’s appointment to the highest judicial office in the land.
The hypocrisy is staggering
This is not just politics. This is personal betrayal. The Herrera family lifted him up for two decades, and when the moment came to show even basic respect or loyalty, Giglio chose the role of the hawk. He could have abstained. The vote would still have failed without his support, but at least he wouldn’t have exposed himself as the ultimate ingrate.
Worse still, Giglio did this while carrying multiple conflicts of interest. As an active criminal lawyer, he continues to appear in court, including in cases before Justice Scerri Herrera herself. He has defended accused persons in trials presided over by the very judge he was voting on.
How does one justify that level of brazenness? How do you look a person in the eye whose family gave you your career, whose sister sits on the bench in front of you, and then publicly stab her in the back in Parliament?
A man with any shame would have abstained. A man with any honour would have recognised the debt. Joe Giglio chose neither.
This episode reveals the character of the Shadow Minister for Justice more clearly than any speech or press release ever could. He preaches about justice, integrity, and the rule of law from one side of his mouth, while demonstrating breathtaking ingratitude and conflict of interest from the other.
The Herrera family deserved better. Malta’s justice system deserves better. The Nationalist Party should ask itself whether this is really the face they want representing them on justice matters — a man who bites the hand that fed him for twenty years, all while hiding behind parliamentary privilege.
Joe Giglio didn’t just vote against Consuelo.
He voted against loyalty, against decency, and against his own history.
He did it with a straight face. That takes a very special kind of shamelessness.
