Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil has called on the government to  enter into talks with the Church to redress the matter over the ban on Deborah Schembri and other lawyers from appearing before the Ecclesiastical Tribunal which decides marriage annulments.

"It (the government) must argue that the removal of Dr Schembri from the list of lawyers who can plead in the Church tribunal raises serious concerns on whether the decisions of this tribunal live up to standards of human rights that the state is duty-bound to guarantee," Dr Busuttil says in an opinion piece in The Times.

"And the state cannot recognise the judgements of a non-state tribunal unless it is satisfied that it operates in a way that respects the basic tenets of human rights, just like the civil courts. In default, the state would be failing its own duty to uphold human rights." 

Dr Busuttil said that although the Church had its own rules and was free to apply them, in Malta, the decisions of the Church tribunal were recognised by the state.

"Yet, the state is also bound by the European Convention on Human Rights that, among others, guarantees the right to a fair hearing...

"This provision also extends to the right of being assisted by a lawyer. And, of course, the right to choose one's own lawyer is of the essence for one's own defence," Dr Busuttil wrote.

He asked whether the elimination of Dr Schembri and others from the list of lawyers who could plead in the Church tribunal constituted a breach of clients' rights to be assisted by the lawyer of their choice.

"And if Dr Schembri's exclusion does indeed breach fundamental rights, then how can the state recognise the judgements that are delivered by a tribunal that fails the test of human rights?" 

Read full opinion piece at:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110608/opinion/Right-to-be-assisted-by-one-s-lawyer.369463