Right to lawyer ruling affects criminal cases

A number of criminal cases have ground to a halt with more major disruptions expected following landmark judgments ruling that not having access to a lawyer during police investigations was a breach of human rights.

The magnitude of the rulings was almost immediately felt after Mr Justice Michael Mallia postponed two trials by jury because defence lawyers had asked for the cases to be referred to the Constitutional Court because of possible breaches of human rights.

The landmark judgments were delivered in three separate cases – Alvin Privitera, Mark Lombardi and a minor whose name cannot be published – last month. All three are accused of drug related offences. The rulings are premised on definitive judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which effectively makes challenging them most unlikely.

Lawyer and MP Franco Debono, who had battled all three cases, requested the Magistrates’ Court to declare Mr Privitera’s case null and void because there was a breach of human rights. This request follows that of Mr Lombardi who also requested that his case be declared null.

In the application, Dr Debono said the only evidence in the case against his client was a statement to the police and, bearing in mind that the Constitutional Court had declared that his human rights were breached and the statement was null and void, the whole case should be thrown out. A decision is pending.