Judge dismisses MEP candidate's appeal from an inadmissible appeal

A court dismissed a constitutional application filed by prospective MEP candidate Norman Lowell and ruled that his fundamental right to appeal had not been violated.

Mr Justice Joseph Azzopardi noted that the Court of Criminal Appeal had legitimately thrown our Mr Lowell's appeal, over a suspended jail term, because he omitted essential details.

In a very lengthy constitutional application filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, Mr Lowell had explained that the Magistrates' Court had given him a two-year jail term suspended for four years and fined him €500 for inciting racial hatred.

The Court of Criminal Appeal had dismissed his appeal on grounds that the application did not satisfy the legal requirements and did not contain a short summary of the facts of the case.

Mr Lowell felt that the Court of Criminal Appeal had violated his right to a fair hearing for it had annulled his application of appeal and thus denied him the right to for a second hearing of the criminal proceedings.

He therefore asked the First Hall of the Civil Court to hear and decide his constitutional application with urgency as he wished to contest the European Parliamentary elections.

Mr Justice Azzopardi declared that the rules of criminal procedure were there to ensure that the criminal process was regulated in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any lack of observance of the legal formalities brought about the nullity of a criminal appeal. These rules were well known to all practitioners of criminal law before the Criminal Court.

The court added that the right of access to a court was not absolute but was subject to limitations contained in the laws of procedure. Once the Court of Criminal Appeal had ruled that Mr Lowell's application of appeal was null and void, Mr Lowell could not complain of a violation of his fundamental human rights. Nor could he request a further examination of his criminal appeal as this would be an appeal from an appeal that was not admissible at law.

Mr Lowell's application was therefore dismissed.