Labour justice spokesman José Herrera has denied the existence of any “tacit agreement”, which Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said there was with the opposition not to introduce the right to a lawyer before police interrogation.
Dr Herrera denied what the minister said in reaction to comments he made in which he held Dr Mifsud Bonnici responsible for what he termed as the crisis being faced by the justice system.
The law introducing such a right was passed in Parliament in 2002 but came into force eight years later. The issue hinges on the implications of a Constitutional Court judgment that ruled that a man’s human rights had been breached when he was interrogated without first being given access to a lawyer.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the opposition had agreed to the legal provision not being implemented, citing as evidence the fact Labour had not complained on the matter.
However, Dr Herrera insisted MPs from both sides of the House had raised the issue on various occasions. He said the government had known about the problem since 1995 when the European Anti-Torture Committee had issued a report on the matter.