Court violates man's human rights

A man's human rights were violated when an appeals court threw out his appeal from a jail term on a technicality, the Constitutional Court has ruled.

Stephen Schembri, 28, was jailed in November 2008 for seven months after he was found guilty of stealing a car mirror and breaching probation conditions. Mr Schembri appealed but the appeals court ruled his appeal invalid because a procedural form was missing. The Attorney General had pointed out this discrepancy to the court and Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono threw out the appeal on this basis.

But the Constitutional court, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Zammit Mckeon, said that when a person was found guilty of a crime and was not under arrest, the person could launch an appeal simply by declaring verbally that he wanted to challenge the sentence.

The accused had appealed within the legal parameters and it was important that everything was interpreted within the principles of the rule of law and that the accused should have the effective remedies to make the appropriate use of his rights. Mr Justice Zammit Mckeon declared the decision of the appeals court null and placed him in the position he was before the appeal.

Police Inspector Kevin Farrugia prosecuted. Lawyers Josè Herrera and Veronique Dalli appeared for Mr Schembri.