Former judge and Labour Member of Parliament Phillip Sciberras has passed away at the age of 77, after a long battle with terminal illness, his son announced.

Along with his wife Rose, Dr Sciberras had three children, Andrew Sciberras, former Labour mayor Alex Sciberras and Women’s Rights Foundation founder Lara Dimitrijevic – all lawyers by profession.

His granddaughter Maya Dimitrijevic remarked in a heartfelt post that the former judge left a legacy behind “as a just, fair and kind intelligent man. A man who’s will to do good for his community remained unwavered till the end. A man who held the pursuit of knowledge and the importance of swift and fair justice for all, dear to him.”

He served as a Member of Parliament in the late 70s and early 80s under the leadership of Dom Mintoff. He was later appointed as judge in 2002 and handed no less than 2,529 judgements with almost 70 of these judgments handed on his last day before retirement.

Apart from his legal and political legacy Dr Sciberras was also a poet and author and was one of the founders of ‘Moviment Qawmien Letterarju’. He has also written 10 volumes of legal publications, ‘ L-Alfabett tal-Kodici Civili’.

His son Andrew remarked that “unfortunately [he will] not be with us to launch the first volume of his new series: L-Alfabett tal-Kodici ta’ Organizzazzjoni u Procedura Civili, for which he was so looking forward, but we take solace in the fact that he is now at peace and in the profound truth that his legacy will live on for years and decades to come.”