Calls for plea bargaining in Magistrates’ Court

A defence lawyer and MP yesterday called on the Justice Minister to introduce plea bargaining in the Magistrates’ Court arguing it would both facilitate and cut the case load.

Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono raised the issue on the arraignment of a man accused of seriously injuring a police officer. He said that once plea bargaining was allowed in the superior courts it should also be possible in the lower courts.

His client, a 39-year-old man from Vittoriosa, pleaded not guilty to chasing his former wife to the local police station on Sunday and then violently resisting police officers. The prosecution is alleging he caused a serious injury to an officer who needed five sutures to his right arm.

Police Inspector Jesmond Borg told Magistrate Marseann Farrugia that having investigated the case and also spoken to the victim, he felt a suspended jail term would be appropriate. The defence agreed but the magistrate noted that plea bargaining was not possible in the Magistrates’ Courts.

It was at this point that De Debono raised the issue and called on the Justice Minister to change the law and bring about plea bargaining in the lower courts. He felt that if this happened, the caseload would also be cut.

The court granted the accused bail against a personal guarantee of €2,000 with his sister acting as a guarantor.

The name of the accused is not being published to protect the woman’s identity.