Court clears way for constitutional application

A magistrate yesterday authorised the lawyers of three of the four men accused with aiding and abetting in the bribery of two former judges to file a constitutional application claiming that their right to a fair trial had been breached.

Magistrate Abigail Lofaro ruled that the application - filed by Dr Chris Soler for Joseph Zammit and Dr Franco Debono for Mario Camilleri and his son Pierre requesting her to direct the case to the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional Jurisdiction - was not frivolous and vexatious.

Therefore the magistrate gave the lawyers the go ahead to file a constitutional application.

Magistrate Lofaro was presiding over the compilation of evidence against Zammit, 59, Mario Camilleri, 42, and his son Pierre, 22, and Anthony Grech Sant, 57.

The four men are pleading not guilty to trading in influence, aiding and abetting in the bribery of former judges Noel Arrigo and Patrick Vella and conspiring to commit a crime.

In their request, the lawyers referred to the October 29 constitutional judgment in which Mr Justice Anton Depasquale, Mr Justice Albert J. Magri and Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia ruled that the judges' right to a fair trial had been violated on the basis of the violation of the presumption of innocence at a news conference given by the Prime Minister on August 1, 2002.

They noted that during the press conference the Prime Minister had informed the public that there were third parties involved in the judges' bribery and eventually the third parties were indicted.

The lawyers claimed that as the link between the judges' case and their clients' case was manifest and apparent, implying that the judges were guilty also implied that any accomplice in the alleged offence was guilty, whether his involvement was direct or indirect.

Therefore, if the judges' right to a fair trial had been breached, so had the rights of Zammit and the Camilleris.