Joseph Flores

Joseph Flores (1907 - 1974) was a Maltese judge and politician.

Born at Hamrun, he studied law at the University of Malta, where he later taught.

Flores attempted to enter politics in 1932, but was defeated. In 1950, he was elected to the legislative assembly as a member of the Malta Labour Party through three elections. In 1955 he served as Speaker of the Maltese Parliaments; the same year he was appointed a judge. In 1971 he became vice-president of the Constitutional Court. He retired from political life in 1972.

Widely known as a homosexual, Flores was a close friend of Herbert Ganado, editor of "Lehen is-Sewwa", an ultraconservative Catholic newspaper [H. Ganado, "Rajt Malta Tinbidel", vol, II (Malta, 1977)] . At Ganado's wedding, Flores was his best man. Flores has been romantically linked with Ganado and Gerry Zammit, a trade unionist. Some commentators have praised Flores as judge for the way he 'humanised punishment'. Regrettably Flores' concern seldom extended to defendants charged with homosexuality. He invariably handed down very harsh sentences. So long as he paid lip service to the island's Christian morality, he was allowed the freedom to enjoy a discreet homosexual lifestyle.

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