Trial of former chief justice postponed

The trial of former chief justice Noel Arrigo on bribery charges, originally scheduled to start tomorrow, has been postponed.

According to a ruling pinned on a notice board outside the Criminal Court, the trial, to be presided by Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo, has been put off to a date "that is to be set at a later stage".

The ruling was given after Dr Arrigo filed an application requesting the trial to be postponed since both the defence and the prosecution wanted to summon Anthony Grech Sant to testify in the trial.

But since Mr Grech Sant still has a pending court case, for his alleged involvement in bribery, he cannot give evidence at this stage.

For this reason Dr Arrigo requested that his trial be postponed to a date when Mr Grech Sant can testify.

After hearing the reply of the Attorney General, Mr Justice Caruana Demajo upheld the request and postponed the trial.

The case against Dr Arrigo started in August 2002 when he and former judge Patrick Vella were charged with accepting bribes and with revealing official secrets in connection with a judgment handed down by the Court of Criminal Appeal against drug trafficker Mario Camilleri on July 5, 2002.

Since then, the two former judges have been through a series of legal proceedings in various courts, ranging from the Magistrates' Court to the European Court of Human Rights.

On March 13, Dr Vella was jailed for two years after he admitted to the charges in a trial also presided by Mr Justice Caruana Demajo. He then filed an appeal claiming that the punishment was "excessive and disproportionate" to the circumstances of the case. The appeal is still pending. Meanwhile Mr Grech Sant is undergoing separate proceedings in the Magistrates' Courts in which he is pleading not guilty to his involvement in the bribery of the two former judges.

Mr Grech Sant had originally been charged together with Mario Camilleri, his son Pierre and Joseph Zammit, known as Is-Sej.

In April 2006, Mr Zammit was jailed for two years when he admitted to the charges.

Lawyers George Abela and Joseph Giglio are representing Dr Arrigo.